The Tricks of Life
by Radiance Within
Summary: Tanaka Yoshida wasn't a very approachable person. In fact, she could almost be described as ice-cold and brutal. So what's her deal with the silver-haired trickster of the popular tennis team?
1. Chapter 1: Six Years Ago

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

* * *

Tanaka blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Each time, the number of girls surrounding Niou Masaharu's desk doubled. How? She was not quite sure. She had never been sure of these things. She had remembered the same event occurring many years before. Six to be exact.

It was in a creaky old school, in a small providence, in South Japan.

"Everybody, this is Niou Masaharu. Treat him well." The teacher had introduced him and had written his name on the board neatly. The boy, however, looked nothing but neat. His short white hair was tousled and a smirk was smeared on his tiny boyish face. A mole under the right side of his mouth was also noticeable.

Tanaka, with her dark brown hair as straight as a stick and bangs almost hiding her eyes ("Ghoul", as she was called), raised an unseen eyebrow. Immediately, almost most of the girls blushed at the sight of this smirking boy who seemed to know more than they could ever do. He was seated at the front, next to two other boys so that nobody would get too distracted.

When the lunch bell rang that day and everybody rushed out the door to go to the playground, Tanaka stayed as usual. She would always eat her bento while reading her book, all alone in that dusty classroom. This time however, she was not alone. Niou Masaharu was seated in his seat, his striking green eyes reading her as if an entertaining book he couldn't let go of. He kept staring at her for five whole minutes until the girl could stand it no longer.

She stood up, taking her two chopsticks and stomped angrily towards the new boy. She pointed the chopsticks just an inch before his face and said accusingly, "What is your problem?"

He shrugged and responded, "My name is Niou Masaharu. You are?" He stood up and held his hand out, a blank and unreadable look had now appeared on his face. Tanaka took a full two minutes to try to comprehend this complex enigma. Finally, she gave up trying and shook his hand, "Yoshida Tanaka."

* * *

Skip two years later; it was the start of junior high and Tanaka could not wait. Ever since the day she had shook Niou Masaharu's hand, they had been the closest friends. He had the tricks and she calculated how each one would be more successful than the next. He had prompted her to come out of her shell, to finally cut those long dark brown locks of hers and to make her bangs shorter so that her cerulean blue eyes would show.

They were like two peas in a pod. Inseparable and always together. Until Tanaka's first day of junior high. Niou was nowhere in sight and Tanaka would soon learn that he had spent all day packing to move to Kanagawa; to Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. There had been silence for the first time between them since two years before. Both had no idea how to speak to the other; Tanaka was afraid that the trickster would not tell the truth. Masaharu was afraid and quite sad, although he did not show it.

The day the Niou's had moved, Tanaka Yoshida was nowhere to be found when the goodbyes were said. She had simply took one good look at her leaving best friend and had fled away before the tears had begun to overflow.

* * *

Skip two years later. The Yoshida family had moved to the Kanagawa prefecture as well and although she did not like it, Tanaka was curious as to what she would find in Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. She was just another girl, going into her third year in Rikkaidai. She found it no surprise that Niou had become a tennis regular; he had always bragged about it.

She also had not found it shocking that he would have a fan club of his own; he had been a heartthrob in their sixth grade year.

But what Tanaka found the most surprising and most painful of all was that Niou Masaharu seemed to have forgotten her completely. Tanaka didn't know if it was just another of his tricks or if he really didn't remember. But in present day, in 3rd year Class B, Tanaka Yoshida still ponders about this curiosity of hers.

And when the lunch bell rang that day and she had chosen to eat inside of the uncleaned classroom, reading a new Danielle Steele book, she had one thing on her mind. Although Tanaka had tried to keep it out, there was a small bit of her, **pleading** that Niou Masaharu would stay in his seat and watch her one more time with his striking green eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: In the Present

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This chapter is for the following users: **Coco96, Ice-creamy-life, Overcoming Mountains, rebirthreborn, Solar Powered Pandas, tazdevil, totoronii, **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Tanaka entered Class B that day, completely tired and moody. Her ten year old brother had gotten food poisoning and was blowing chunks all over the house that night and she had tons of homework to finish. Her parents were in a special celebratory party so she had to clean up the puke by herself.

Adding more to the chaos was that one of her neighbors accidentally created a minor fire, and the two siblings had panicked as they have never experienced fires before. Tanaka had called her best friend, Kiseki Shimizu an hour after the fire was cleared up, totally freaked out about how to finish her homework. Kiseki was the smartest of "their" group, although the one thing she couldn't tolerate was doing schoolwork for her friends.

Her brother spent all night puking while Tanaka tried to phone her parents. They came in that night at exactly 10:34 P.M. drunk from the party and fell asleep on the couch (her mom) and on the table (her dad).

The shocked teenage girl could only watch in terror as she tried to finish twenty-pages worth of reading before 11:00 that night.

Tanaka banged down her schoolbag on her desk, not caring if it attracted any attention from her classmates. Kiseki and Ranawa looked up at her, and from the corner of her eye, she also saw Konomi turn her head.

"Worst night of my life." She said through clenched teeth, only adding towards the monstrous look she had on; quite opposite to the usually cool and calm image she would wear. Her dark chocolate hair was only half brushed, her eyes were almost as red as Kirihara Akaya's inner devil, and there were very noticeable bags under them.

Both of her friends could only laugh as she sat down and Kiseki began brushing her hair for her (Tanaka sat in front of Kiseki). "At least it's over." Ranawa told her, while taking out her schoolbooks. However, despite that obvious fact, Tanaka's appearance change was still overwhelming.

And when their teacher entered the classroom, his first comment was, "Yoshida, what in the world happened to **you**?"

Tanaka Yoshida, Kiseki Shimizu, and Ranawa Ikeda could only sigh as the rest of the classroom chuckled in unison.

* * *

Although many Rikkai students consider their third year the best year, Tanaka found her school days as a third year constantly repetitive and extremely uninteresting. If there was one thing that kept her to her feet, it was the enigma of Niou Masaharu himself. Yesterday, he showed no signs that he knew her. Today, he would take seconds to look at her when nobody else was looking, although she knew that he knew she noticed it.

The boy was a mystery unsolved himself, and although she had known him for about six years, there was still a piece of his real self that she could not get a hold of. Six years, and he was still the same trickster, if not better.

Tanaka couldn't help but mention him when eating lunch that day.

"He hasn't changed at all, that Niou."

Both her friends looked at her for a time and silence dominated the three. "Maybe he's afraid." Kiseki broke the silence with a simple statement. Confusion now replaced the silence when Tanaka asked, "How?"

Ranawa sighed as if she was about to explain the most logical thing to a insensible child. "Tanaka, it's hard to understand a boy's mind when you're a girl. Most likely, I sense that he is afraid to know whether or not your friendship is still there. You said that you've been the closest friends ever since elementary school. Maybe he's realized that while he's been growing up, you've grown up a lot faster and figured out life well before he could ever."

"Life has tricks." Tanaka replied coldly, referring to Niou's move four years ago.

"The tricks of life makes us who we are. Who we're meant to be, and who we're meant to be with." Kiseki knowledgeable retorted.

Ranawa nodded and muttered, "Quite fitting for Rikkai's renowned swindler of the courts."

And Tanaka could do nothing, but agree wholeheartedly.

* * *

When the school bell rang to signal the end of the day, Niou had left because of a "slight fever" and was escorted by the teacher himself. Tanaka was still packing up her things when everybody had already left.

"Yoshida-san, I need to talk to you."

Tanaka turned her attention towards her teacher and she walked towards him while holding her schoolbag in her hand. "Yes, sir?"

"You seemed more tired than usual. Is there anything going on with your family?" He seemed deeply concerned. Tanaka could only guess why. She was one of the top students in math and was the pride of the class in everything related to the subject.

"No, sir. It was just a rare occurrence." Tanaka chuckled, as she tried to let go of the tension that was building.

He nodded. "And you're friends?"

"Fine, sir. I..um..really need to leave. So..please excuse me." She bowed politely and began rushing towards the door and out the school in a manner that ruined her reputation as Ice Princess.

The teacher watched her brisk-walk away and when Tanaka was distanced enough, he began taking off his mask and silver hair began to peek through the wig.

The teacher's face was replaced with a young boyish one composing of slightly slanted striking green eyes, ruffled white hair with a tiny braid at the back, and a mole placed at the right of his lips. He smiled in a manner that intrigued most and shook his head saying, "That girl hasn't changed at all."

And Niou Masaharu watched Tanaka Yoshida's retreating figure until he couldn't see her anymore.

* * *

**Hey! It's RadianceWithin here. I just wanted to send out a thank you to all the readers! I'm glad that people are looking forward to more chapters of my story (nothing makes an author happier than support). **

**So far, I haven't gotten any reviews saying how terrible (plot-wise, character-wise, etc.) this particular story is, and that makes me feel incredibly accomplished. Thank you so much for all your support; I know that many POT or NPOT fans are into the whole yaoi thing which was the reason I felt reluctant about making my OC's. **

**I wasn't being too sensible when I thought that the fans would bash my characters just because they were girls and that the fanfics themselves are not yaoi. Haha. Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I'll work harder and harder to get more chapters in before the next school year comes.**

**Love **


	3. Chapter 3: 4:56 PM

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This chapter is for the following users: **Coco96, Ice-creamy-life, Overcoming Mountains, rebirthreborn, Solar Powered Pandas, tazdevil, totoronii, Killer Socks, Princess Alice, Reinuta, Shadowsnow, . **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Tanaka was in rush to leave after school that day; the whole sensei thing freaked her out more than anything. She didn't expect to run into a crying Ritsu Konomi at all, nor was it in her agenda to make Konomi part of her group of friends but unexpectedly, both happened. Kiseki and Shoko both had asked Konomi if she had wanted to walk with them; their houses were near each other although Konomi did not know that.

She had refused and Tanaka knew why. Konomi, despite the fact that she was now going to have a clean slate, was still confused and most likely, distrustful. How did she know that this wasn't just a set-up? That's what Tanaka would have thought, even though she wouldn't have chosen Konomi's former friends in the first place.

"You would think she'd be happier by now." Shoko stated in a cool voice, shaking her head as she watched Konomi leave.

Naomi sighed of impatience. "The poor girl's confused, Shoko. Am I right?" Her green eyes looked to Kiseki and Ranawa for support; they were the analytical and psychological two of the group. Ranawa nodded as Kiseki was still looking at Konomi leave.

"Happy or not, we'd better learn to be nice. You know how our sarcasm with each other might come off as hurtful. I don't think Konomi's cut out for it," Tanaka looked over to Konomi who had seemed to straightened her hunch-backed figure, "Yet."

Aeha Hayashi bit her lip and reluctantly asked her sempai, "What do you mean by that?"

"You don't want to know." was the curt reply that she got from all of the third year girls that were surrounding her.

* * *

It was about four o'clock that afternoon when almost everybody had left to go home. Tanaka remained in the library because she wanted to get books for a report she had to do. She was about to get her last book when she heard a familiar voice near the library entrance.

"Che..Seriously, Yagyuu. I won't do anything to your precious library books." Tanaka's turned and took in a sharp breathe.

"Niou-kun, please refrain from doing whatever trick you have up your sleeve. If I hear one complaint about you, I will be sure to report it to Yukimura-kun." Yagyuu Hiroshi's voice replied, in a menacing tone.

"Just go." was the simply answer and Tanaka heard the library door close. Hurrying to leave, she began to carry at least six textbooks that she needed and dropped them at the counter just as Niou was passing it.

"Yoshida." Niou nodded.

"Niou." Tanaka nodded.

The elderly librarian took quick glances between the two teenagers, sensing that something had happened between them before. She had seen many romances and break-ups in this same library, and she could tell this was no different.

"Um..Could you please hurry? I'd like to get home before dark." Tanaka told the librarian, smiling sweetly like a good student should.

The librarian smiled back at her and began checking the books out for her. "Sweetie, I don't think you'll be able to carry all of these home." The elderly woman gestured towards the huge hardcover books that she was now handing over to the teenage girl. "Maybe you can get Niou-san over there to help you out?"

Tanaka turned her head towards Niou's direction (who looked as oblivious as oblivious can get) and assured the librarian, "No, I'll be fine." This sentence didn't seem to mean anything as the librarian looked at her in a way that easily said, "No, you won't."

The elderly woman, who seems to be trying to patch the two up, sighed in impatience and called out, "Niou-san, if you don't mind, could you please help Yoshida-san with her books?"

The silver-haired boy looked over to them and innocently nodded. Tanaka could only panic inside; this was the first (and hopefully the last) time she will ever be walking alone with Niou Masaharu since four years ago.

* * *

Rewind back to five years ago. It was 4:16 P.M. Masaharu and Tanaka were at their sixth year of elementary school, and the boy had accompanied his best friend to the library. He had about three huge encyclopedias in his arms while the girl was skipping on along ahead of him.

"Che...Why do you need all this for?" He complained; his arms were getting tired every second.

Tanaka turned around and retorted, "Just because procrastinate with your projects, doesn't mean I have to."

"Then you carry it." Masaharu replied, trying to place the books in her arms.

She shook her head in utter disappointment. "Haru, you need to learn how to be a gentleman. Especially in junior high. I'd bet everything that more girls will be asking you out."

Masaharu sighed. "Who cares? They just wanna date me for popularity. You've seen through that, haven't you?" He was still trudging along with his sore arms around the gigantic books.

Tanaka turned around and innocently asked, "What are are you talking about?" And she hurriedly skipped on along to ignore more of his questions.

"Oi! Wait up!"

"No. You hurry!"

"Tanaka Yoshida! You are going to pay for this!"

* * *

Forward to the present. It was exactly 4:34 P.M. and despite Tanaka's attempts to convince the librarian, she now found herself walking hurriedly in front of Niou Masaharu. He was carrying three of the textbooks because she had wanted to carry at least some. There was a definite awkward silence between them and Tanaka did not know how to break it.

She cleared her throat.

"Erm...Pretty nostalgic, huh?" Tanaka asked the renowned trickster, who seemed to have no care in the world.

"Yeah. Except you made me carry all of it." Masaharu replied, chuckling. It seemed funnier now that his body had easily developed and began to strengthen.

Tanaka scowled. "You're carrying the equal amount of books, Niou." She had noticed that just right after he said the sentence.

Masaharu looked down at the books and noticed that as well. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sanada's training sure works. Why? Do you need me to carry some of yours?"

"I didn't say that." She quickly replied; all she wanted to do now was to hurry home.

Again, silence dominated the two of them as the girl walked ahead of the tennis regular. She had gone through puberty pretty early, and for most of their years as best friends, Tanaka had been taller as Masaharu.

He now kept up with her, and was walking beside her. It didn't surprise her to know that he was almost about three inches inches taller than her."Well, isn't this a surprise." Masaharu commented, looking down at her. "Seems like I'm not the shorty anymore."

Tanaka knew he was provoking her; it seemed just like old times. "My doctor says I've got another growth spurt coming." She lied, scowling.

"Hm...No use trying to trick a trickster, Tanaka. I thought you knew better than that." Masaharu looked at her again, chuckling. A second later, he was surprised that he had said her first name.

The girl was surprised as well, but that didn't land her into saying _his_ name. He was no longer her best friend and she was no longer his. Tanaka lied again, "You forget a lot of things in four years." She looked ahead and was gladly relieved that her house was just another block away.

Masaharu saw the relief in her face, and although she couldn't tell, a few parts of his heart cracked the moment she finished her statement. "I see..." He made a facade.

Tanaka heard a wounded moment in his poker face and added, "I miss those moments, though." This time, it was for real. She did miss the moments when they would prank their classmates or sometimes, even the teachers. But she's matured now. No more of tricking. No more messing around.

They were at the porch of Tanaka's house now. It was exactly 4:55 P.M. now. She took the books from his arms and said, "Thanks."

Predictably, he smiled and responded, "Your welcome." Then, he reluctantly added, "You haven't changed at all." Tanaka hid her surprise with a nod. "You haven't either."

There was a silence between them, as both made no hint of movement to leave. A flash of nostalgia pained Tanaka, as she flashbacked from three years ago.

* * *

Rewind back to five years ago. It was 4:55 P.M. Masaharu and Tanaka sat at the front steps of her porch and both made no signs of movement to leave.

"Hey. Three years from now, do you think we'll still be the same?" Tanaka asked her best friend, who was looking at the setting sun.

Masaharu smiled. "I hope so. Best friends, right?" He held out a pinky at Tanaka.

"Best friends." Tanaka smiled and intertwined her pinky with his, promising him.

* * *

"I'd uh...better get going." Tanaka said, taking out her keys and unlocking the front door.

Masaharu nodded and said, "See you at Monday."

"You too." They looked straight at each others eyes for the first time in four years. There were seconds tick-tocking as they remained in that position, until Niou broke it. He nodded, then turned around.

And with that, both took their leave. Both haven't forgotten their promise; they still remembered 4:55 P.M. from five years ago. But as Tanaka walked inside her house and Masaharu walked towards his, they knew that they wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

Both had fallen in love with the other, and both were afraid that the promise would still linger.

"When did life...get so complicated?" Tanaka massaged her head as she walked up the stairs, knowing the life had just begun its tricks on her. It was now 4:56 P.M.

4:55 had passed; it was over. And Tanaka and Masaharu knew it themselves that they're friendship ended at the minute that came after that. It was a historic moment for the two of them. Three years ago, they made a promise to be best friends forever. Now, in the present, there was no 4:55 anymore. Just 4:56 and a new complication in the life of the trickster and the tricked.

* * *

**Alright. 1,948 words. Sad, I know. Anyway, I'm sorry this one took a long time. I got KH 368/2 Days and just started playing it like summer was ending tomorrow. Please enjoy! **


	4. Chapter 4: I Miss You

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **chivini, hanonmm, Koori no Kitsune, Kyuubi-Demon, Michiko-Chii, Princess Alice Rose, strawbewii** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users: **applegreentea, Coco96, EcstaticPetenshii, Ice-creamy-life, Killer Socks, Overcoming Mountains, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, roonaty, Shadowsnow, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, .Xx**who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

When Tanaka entered her house that afternoon, her brother was staring guiltily at the TV. She ignored him, and went straight to the kitchen without a word said.

"Wasn't that Haru-onii?" He asked his older sister who was pouring herself a glass of milk in the kitchen counter.

Tanaka went back into the living room and raised an eyebrow at her brother coolly. "It's not good to spy on people, Satoru." She crossed her legs and attempted to take the remote control out of her younger brother's grip.

"How come he doesn't visit anymore?"

The older sister could only sigh. Her brother was only ten years old at present and had been seven when Niou and Tanaka had been friends; the two boys would often attempt to prank Tanaka although it all ended unsuccessfully. Satoru found the brother he wanted in Niou, the brother that Tanaka could never be and sometimes she would wonder if Satoru missed Niou more than she did.

"We're not friends anymore." Tanaka quickly replied, trying desperately to end the conversation while she attempted once more to get the remote control out of her brother's hand.

Satoru pulled it out of her reach and responded, "But - " He got cut off as Tanaka finally got a hold of the remote control and turned the TV on, interrupting his answer.

"Look, just because I'm not friends with him doesn't mean you can't. So go talk to him when you see him on the streets." Tanaka tiredly concluded, as the blaring TV made up for the angry silence her brother was giving her. Tanaka didn't even concentrate on what was on; all she could wonder was how life got so complicated as she grew older.

* * *

It was a nice and sunny Sunday afternoon when Tanaka received a phone call from Ranawa Ikeda . The teenage girl had been ignoring her brother just in case he was still angry with her, and was reading the textbooks she (and Niou) had carried home when her friend had called saying that she had to cancel her afternoon plans.

Tanaka knew that Ranawa, Konomi, and Naomi were planned to volunteer for the General Kanagawa Orphanage that very afternoon and reluctantly agreed to replace Ranawa. Tanaka had forgotten the time and began calling the three, although none of them answered. Sighing, she put on some jeans and a simple sweatshirt, telling her parents that she will be at the Orphanage that afternoon.

The girl had arrived at the said orphanage without any sign of Konomi or Naomi coming and concluded that she had been too early. Knowing that there was a park near the orphanage, the teenage girl decided to burn some time and walked towards the noisy park. Not a lot of people were there, unknown to Tanaka why. She sat on a bench near the wishing fountain and jumped up when she heard footsteps nearing her.

"I thought you didn't like parks. Too crowded, you said." The familiar sly male voice stated, his trademark messy silver hair messier than usual.

Tanaka sat back and looked straight towards the fountain. "People change." She responded, not wanting to converse with her former best friend. Niou chuckled teasingly and sat down next to her, not too close but not too far either.

"Yeah. I've grown a lot, haven't I?" He knew that Tanaka had always been fond of being taller than most and had used her height to boss him around ("I'm taller than you so you have to do as I say."), although in retrospect, the reasoning wasn't logical at all.

Tanaka raised an eyebrow and turned at him. "Physically or mentally?" She questioned him, knowing that his personality never changed while he had grown quite a bit ever since he moved.

"Che. My pranks aren't as bad as they used to be." Niou assured her, before she started telling him how personality-wise, he had never changed at all.

"Yeah. They used to be really stupid." Tanaka agreed, looking back at how obvious his "devious" plans were. Then she added, "I've heard that you've been dressing up as Sanada and flirting with the schoolgirls. He'd better have smacked you good."

Niou was surprised that she knew it was him behind all that. "Jealous?" He teased her although he knew that in her age, she wouldn't respond with an "EW!" anymore.

"You wish." She smacked him on the arm with the back of her hand, as he rubbed his arm as if it actually hurt.

They both became still and only the water sloshing on the stone fountain was heard. "So why are you here?" Niou asked Tanaka curiously even though he had offhandedly asked her that already.

"Volunteering for the orphanage." Tanaka had begun volunteer work when she became friends with Naomi and Shiho who were already volunteers by the time they had met. Plus, she didn't exactly have any clubs, sports, or commitments to go to so she might as well be doing something useful for other people than just wasting her time at home.

Niou raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're pretty nice now, huh?"

Tanaka looked at him as if he was an insane hobo wearing a Santa Claus outfit. "Yeah," she sarcastically answered, "And you guys play tennis just for fun."

He gave no response as Tanaka saw Konomi and Naomi near the orphanage, obviously looking for Ranawa. "I have to go." Tanaka said quietly and stood up, and Niou did as well. He too, saw Tanaka's friends and was about to go to the arcades where he promised he would treat Marui and Kirihara for games.

A blowing wind suddenly went past the two awkwardly and whistled through Tanaka's hair. He smiled, as if they were back to three years ago and smoothed down her messy hair. "Take care of yourself." Niou said as he began walking away, his hand up in the air in the gesture of good-bye. And as he turned his back, so did she.

But as they walked separate ways, in quiet whispers that even the wind could not hear was their voices saying, "I miss you."

* * *

It was a tiring but quite fun time at the orphanage that afternoon; the kids had made homemade cupcakes that some could just not resist throwing at somebody else. After a few narrowly missed throws and a couple successful ones, a food fight suddenly occurred, much to the adults and the volunteers' dismay. Konomi, Naomi, and Tanaka had to stay in an hour just to clean up messes that ensued throughout the afternoon. As they were cleaning up the cupcake frosting around the main dining hall, Konomi couldn't help but comment about how those kids were so cheerful and friendly.

"Yeah. Life for them sure is nice. Without all the teenage problems." Naomi mused as she cleaned a wall that was splattered with pink and white frosting.

Tanaka began wiping the nearest table and responded, "I wish I could start a food fight and not get in trouble for it." She scrubbed the table, until she could finally see the wood again.

"Thank you." Konomi stated, surprising the two other girls. In addition, she bowed her head while also trying to stop blushing.

At first, there was no response until Naomi let out a shrill giggle. Tanaka laughed playfully as well, went up to Konomi and said, "True friendship doesn't need thanks." She patted the blushing girl on the back and began to clean again.

Naomi stopped giggling and apologized to Konomi, "You're such a sweet kid, it's hard to believe your our age. Usually junior-high should have ruined you already." Naomi was teasing Konomi, and she knew it. Tanaka herself, inwardly agreed. Konomi was your petite shy girl-next-door kind of friend; somebody who would lend an ear for you to complain but would never complain herself. Her former friends knew that as well, but they had taken advantage of the poor girl.

"What a waste." Tanaka muttered to herself, as the three resumed to the cleaning. It was about 7:00 P.M. when they had cleaned off every spot of frosting and cupcake in the dining hall. The kids bid thanks and the trio exited, worried that it was so dark now. Tokyo was infamous for kidnappers at night, and Kanagawa had those too, just not as common.

Naomi's house was past the park, so she'll be taking that route; she waved goodbye to the other two who stood there wondering if they should call their parents or take a taxi. Konomi's house was only a ten-minute walk from the orphanage if she went and took the left side. Tanaka had no choice but to take the right because it was the fastest.

Konomi was obviously worried for Tanaka, whose house was farther out than hers. Tanaka only chuckled and assured the worried girl that she'd be alright, although she was a bit worried herself. Finally, both took their separate ways and Tanaka, just five minutes into her walk saw a tall figure near an alleyway.

"Oh crap." She murmured to herself, and began walking faster and past the figure without looking. Another five minutes, and Tanaka was clearly aware that someone was following her; they didn't even try not make it obvious because their footsteps were heavy and their breathing loud. Instead of bothering to turn and look, Tanaka just sped up to get to her house faster.

Suddenly, a hand caught her arm and Tanaka screamed shrilly and then looked up just to see Niou Masaharu, who seemed to have been the one following her. She knew that she didn't look, but it was to miss that kind of hair, even in the dark.

"Che. What - did you think I was some sort of a pedo?" Niou teased her as he walked along with her, knowing he had frightened her on purpose.

Tanaka scowled and punched him hard on the arm. "You scared me on purpose, didn't you?"

"What, I thought the Ice Princess isn't scared of anything." He chuckled, seeing how red her face was of embarrassment.

She looked down, trying not laugh herself. "What's wrong with you?" She asked him, her head shook with disapproval of his utter immaturity.

"Satoru's gonna crack up when I tell him." Niou said, as they walked nearer and nearer to Tanaka's house. "You're not allowed to enter my house. That's the only place where you can't harass me." Tanaka argued with him, knowing that he _will_ go in there and tell her parents and her brother about how loud she screamed in public. Unexpectedly, he quieted down and did not respond.

By the time they got to the front porch of her house, Niou did not resume his plan of embarrassing her in front of her family and just walked off towards his own home with a simple wave. It wasn't until Tanaka got to her bedroom that she had realized they had been holding hands the entire time they were together.

* * *

Revised Edition. I felt like I owed the readers a longer chapter than the other one.


	5. Chapter 5: An Unraveled Mystery

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **chivini, ChocoholicAddict22, hanonmm, Koori no Kitsune, Kyuubi-Demon, Michiko-Chii, miki727, Mochiiko, Osanai Yume, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, Raine Amorial, strawbewii, xKisaragi-Raiix** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users: **applegreentea, aznprincessali, ChocoholicAddict22, ChocolateFudgeSauce, Coco96, CrushedCoppelia, EcstaticPetenshii, Hidden in Sunlight, Ice-creamy-life, Killer Socks, Mochiiko, NotherningNEverything, Ocean Wave Kira, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, Raine Amorial, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, roonaty, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Shadowsnow, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, .Xx **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

It was midday by the time Tanaka had awoken - her father had already left for work and her mother had not bothered to wake her up. As she tried to steadily walk towards the bathroom, Tanaka remembered that her brother had a tennis match today. Needless to say, Niou Masaharu had influenced her brother like they were family.

Tanaka smiled a solemn smile, and jumped as the phone rang loudly, echoing to her room all the way from the living room. The sleepy girl smoothed back her hair and gave out an exasperated sigh as she trudged down the stairs, the ringing continuously becoming more annoying. Looking on it now from retrospect, Tanaka could only wonder why back then, answering the phone was the coolest thing ever.

"Hello, Tanaka residence." She tried to take the irritation away from her voice.

A rushed, frantic, and definitely breathless voice answered. "Naka? That you?" Ranawa's voice yelled loudly from the other end of the line. A cacophony of high-pitched voices suddenly screamed and Tanaka glowered as she realized that Ranawa was once again stuck baby-sitting her four younger siblings.

"No, Ranawa. I'm not helping you out this time." Tanaka answered irritably, foreseeing the question before it was even asked. Again, a chorus of shouting and crying nearly blew Tanaka's eardrum to smithereens and the poor girl inhaled and exhaled as she rubbed her hurting forehead.

"It's not that, Naka. Are you _honestly positively **sure**_ that you never saw my writing piece?" Ranawa's voiced pleaded childishly through the phone, which startled Tanaka somehow - Ranawa had always been one of the mature ones of her circle of friends. However, Tanaka had just begun to learn that when it comes to literature, Ranawa, in lack of a better term, goes nuts.

Tanaka breathed deeply, expecting herself to calm down, but found it ineffective. "I am _honestly positively certainly absolutely **sure **_that I never saw it, nor touch it, nor have anything to do about it." She said so through clenched teeth, attempting exceedingly hard not to be angry with Ranawa.

"Okay..." Ranawa's pitiful voice whispered softly through the phone and she hung up, but not before her younger siblings could release another mighty sound wave from the other line. Tanaka closed her eyes and used a strategy that her mother had once effectively used on her; Plan Rainbows and Unicorns.

But before she could relax a single second, the phone rang again. Tanaka gazed at the caller ID, expecting to see Ranawa's name but was surprised to see that it wasn't. She didn't even had a clue about who was calling.

Cautiously, Tanaka placed the phone on her ear and said, "Hello. Tanaka Residence."

The caller didn't answer her, and Tanaka was about to end the call when that sly voice huskily teased her, "Why so formal?"

"Niou, quit bothering me. I am not in the mood." Tanaka rolled her eyes. All she wanted to do was go back to bed, and sleep and sleep until school comes again.

A chuckle sounded through the other line. "Your brother won the match. Kid learned a lot from me."

_Che,_ Tanaka could only think, _guy isn't short on confidence._ Then, she hurriedly told him, "Don't talk to Satoru. Or my mom. Or anyone related to me. If people ask, I don't know you, got it?"

But of course, with the trickster's twisted mind, he just had to irritate the poor girl even more. As Tanaka's mother and brother walked absentmindedly towards him, Niou lowered his cellphone and raised a hand in greeting. "Nice match, Satoru. But work on your slice, it wasn't as sharp as it should have been."

Tanaka could have pulled out every single hair on her head as she listened to the conversation ensuing. Her mother's voice reached the speaker and was loud enough for her to hear every word.

"Masaharu, hasn't it been long?" She pleasantly greeted him.

Tanaka could hear the ruffling of hair and listened closer. "Sure has. How's Tanaka doing?" Niou replied, the slyness of his voice melting away and was replaced with a sort of pleasant tone that Tanaka never knew he had.

"She's doing fine. But don't you see her at school?" Her mother questioned curiously.

But of course, her dear mother just had to ask that question. Tanaka rested the phone between the crook of her neck and her left shoulder as she began to search for the cups of ramen her mother had bought yesterday.

"We barely see each other. I've been hanging out with my tennis team and she hangs out with her own friends." Niou explained. Just a second after he had said so, Satoru's puberty-lacking voice exclaimed, "But I saw you guys yesterday! You walked her home from the orphanage."

Tanaka could only imagine the eyebrow-raising her mother had probably executed at this point.

"We just happened to run into each other." Niou hurriedly said.

_"What a liar that boy is," _Tanaka thought, extremely frustrated that her mother was still conversing with her former best friend.

Then, Satoru's pleading voice interrupted the conversation. "Haru-onii-san, why don't you come home with us? Maybe you can teach me how to do a slice right."

Tanaka rolled her eyes when she finally found the ramen she's been looking for. Unfortunately, it was at the very top of the cupboard and she reached out for it, only to have the whole pack tumbling down on her already-aching head.

"Sorry kiddo but - " Niou began when, suddenly he hears a loud noise on the other end of the line and remembered that he had not ended the call yet. Changing his mind, and deciding that Sanada's training camp wasn't that important, Niou answered, "Sure."

Tanaka could only groan in frustration as she sat down and kicked the ramen cups in childlike anger.

* * *

When the doorbell rang just minutes after the phone call, Tanaka was eating her warm ramen in satisfaction. After hearing Satoru yell at her through the door, she slammed the cup down on the living room table and stomped towards the door and opened it unwillingly. Her mom gave her that "parent" stare, but Tanaka ignored it.

Niou could only chuckle at the poor girl he just couldn't help but harass. Knowingly, Tanaka had not bothered to brush her messy bed hair nor change into proper street clothes. She took her ramen cup, slurped it and continued watching Doraemon with no trace of shame.

"Good morning too." Niou took a seat next to his agitated former best friend.

Tanaka only continued to ignore him.

Her mother, suddenly aware of the awkward silence, called out to Satoru who was changing into clean clothes. "Satoru, we're going to go buy some groceries!" She gave Tanaka another gaze.

The infuriated girl merely ignored her mother, and continued eating her ramen as if she was still alone in her house.

The trudging of Satoru's feet preceded his noisy complaints, but his mother seemed not to care. She was already in the car and placing the key into the ignition before Satoru could groan.

When Niou heard the car backing up from the driveway and Satoru's loud door-closing, he turned to Tanaka whose eyes were still focused on the show. "You must be frustrated with me."

"No shiz." Tanaka replied, emotionless and cold.

Niou chuckled. "Why? I'm only attempting to be friends again."

"You sure are doing a lousy job of it." Tanaka answered, scowling at the TV screen although Niou knew it was clearly meant for him.

Niou sighed. "I don't understand. What's so bad about talking to your family? Talking to you? I used to come over everyday to your house, and you didn't care."

"That was back then. You've got your tennis crew and I've got my friends. What more do you want?" Tanaka's voice sharply gave a tone of anger.

Niou's eyebrows furrowed and his forehead creased. "You're angry with me."

"Finally noticed, huh?" Tanaka's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Niou looked down, although not in shame. "Why?"

"Why?" Tanaka asked him mockingly, "Everybody knew, Niou. How did everybody know that you were leaving but me? I was your best friend. I told you secrets that I couldn't even tell my parents. Then you just suddenly leave and I find out everybody knew but me!" Tanaka angrily stood up, fresh tears bursting from her eyes. Everyday, she had wanted to yell out those words. Everyday, she wanted to ask him that.

"Tanaka, I thought it would have been better if you didn't know. I didn't want to leave either, but some things in life I just don't have control of. I...I guess I was just being selfish. I was more afraid of hurting myself - I didn't want to see you crying because if I did, I'd start to cry and embarrass myself, you know." Niou let out a guilty chuckle and smiled a guilty smile. "I'm sorry." He ended lamely, but stared in confusion as Tanaka shook her head slowly.

"I'm sorry. _I'm sorry._" Tanaka's snarled, shaking her head in agitation. "Three years. Three years you left me hanging about everything and that's all you can say?" She angrily pointed straight at the trickster's chest.

Niou gave her a sad smile. "I wish I could tell you more, Tanaka-chan. I really wish I could." He placed a hand on top of her head and smoothed down her hair.

"You never could. For years we've been best friends, and I feel you're always hiding something. Why won't you let anyone in, Niou? No one knows what's in your head, let alone your heart. Not even your parents, and sure as heck, not me." Tanaka pulled down his hand from her hair, and let it lie limp on his side.

"You should be glad you can't." Niou grinned.

Tanaka sat back down, began eating her cup of ramen and continued the "Ignore Niou" method.

"You have really turned into a teenage girl." The trickster of the courts said thoughtfully, realizing that he can't get through her head either.

The girl merely slurped the last remains of her ramen and got up to toss the empty cup away. As she stalked towards the kitchen, Niou followed her closely, well aware that it was going to bother or most likely irritate her.

"I think you're more a teenage girl than I could ever be." Tanaka wittily responded, as she whirled around to face him.

He could only smirk at the response.

"Firstly, you can't even explain your own actions. Second, you stalk just for the sake of infuriating me. Lastly, you barge into my house, invade my privacy - " Tanaka's sentence couldn't end for she was suddenly engulfed in a forceful embrace and her voice was muffled by Niou's very own chest.

"Chatterbox." He whispered silently towards her ear, his warm breathe cascading through the left side of her head as his arms snaked their way around her waist.

Tanaka although only slightly red, tried to push him away but realized that his stupid tennis workouts had made him a lot stronger than she had thought at first.

"This is harassment. I'm gonna report you to the police for rape, just you watch!" Tanaka tried to scare him off, knowing full well it wasn't going to work.

"It's not rape if it's consensual." Niou again muttered seductively in her ear.

With this, the girl fully turned tomato red. How? How did scrawny little Niou turned into _this_? And what frustrated her more, was that she wasn't exactly bothered by his embrace. Uncomprehendingly, it was more intoxicating rather than bothersome - which obviously made the situation even more confusing than ever before._ "We're supposed to be best friends. This is not a friend hug..."_ was all the poor girl could think, as Niou held her tighter. Why? Only God knows. **Stupid teenage hormones. STUPID TEENAGE HORMONES.**

Niou, knowing that she was about to explode in anger, quickly let go. However, he could only laugh at how high the shade of red can turn.

"This is not funny!" Tanaka yelled out, as Niou made his way towards the front door. "Niou Masaharu, what is wrong with you?"

As they reached the porch, Tanaka was still waiting for an answer. She glared nonsensically at the boy, who looked as if he couldn't care less. But when she was about to turn around, lock the front door, and bury her embarrassed face into her pillows, Niou jutted his head towards hers - the distance being a mere inch.

"See you later, Naka-chan." He grinned teasingly and began to sprint towards his own home. Niou waited for a final response and was fully satisfied with the "UGH!" that he heard a block away.

* * *

Tanaka, after seeing the retreating figure of Niou Masaharu and hearing her mother and brother speaking loudly from the garage, sprinted and clambered up towards her bedroom. Closing the white wooden door hurriedly, Tanaka breathlessly took in everything that had happened in that single hour.

Inhaling and exhaling numerous times, Tanaka attempted to relax and sat down upon her messy bed, even more tired than before. She laid down silently, squeezed a small pillow above her chest, and stared up the ceiling. "Why does life have to be so complicated...?" Tanaka asked herself, and closed her eyes.

"Haru...Why you?" The teenage girl whispered, confusion meddling with her brain capacity to think. "Why always you...?" It had suddenly occurred to Tanaka that Niou was the reason she's always changed. Years ago, she had been a loner, not voicing out her opinions - not even caring for anyone or anybody but herself and her family. Ever since he entered her life, Tanaka had seemed to come out of her shell; knowing that she can be accepted for who she was, even by a single person, was encouragement enough.

Then, after he left, Niou left a gigantic space in Tanaka's life. Ever since then, she's become quieter among her peers again and she never raised her hand in class; a complete echo before they had met. She didn't know why, but she could never tell her parents her problems with self-consciousness - but with Niou, Tanaka knew that she could trust him. Why? She couldn't explain. It was just something he possessed.

Then, just a few months before he left, Niou had become stranger. Quieter and mature perhaps. It was like he was growing up too fast, and she couldn't catch up with him. In a time-span of a single month, Niou had begun hanging out with older girls and doing more extracurricular activities; simply put, leaving poor Tanaka behind in the dust.

Since then, Tanaka had wanted to talk about his sudden change. But they never did spend any time anymore; Niou had always been busy - an ice cream treat for a possible girlfriend here, or a tennis match there. And as immature as she was, Tanaka decided to play the same game. He wanted to push her away, then she'll push him out of her life as well.

Near the beginning of junior high, Tanaka began helping out with charity causes or helping with the orphanages, even working to earn college funds. In the end, there was no communication between the two and Tanaka would ignore Niou until he made the first attempt to talk. Tanaka chuckled mindlessly as she remembered clearly the words she had put in her diary when she saw two junior high cheerleaders flocking around Niou when he won his tennis match that day.

_"Oh..That Niou, he thinks he so great. He shouldn't have forgotten that **I **was his first friend. I knew him way before they did! Is he really that ungrateful - sure, they're cheerleaders but they're mindless sluts every way you look! What wrong with him...? Why is this even happening in the first place?" _

During that period of time, leading up to the move, Tanaka had never tried to unravel the mystery behind Niou's sudden change. She figured it was better to leave the issue alone. There was no point in messing with him anyway.

When she moved to Rikkai, she found her own place, her own group. She ignored him during that first day of school - but it wasn't like he had chased her around like some apologetic lost puppy. The teacher had just introduced her, and she almost didn't recognize Niou if he hadn't had that trademarked silver hair of his. She saw his eyes widen only a small bit, but it lasted for a mere second - maybe it was even an illusion.

Tanaka had refused to give him any of her attention, and up until the past week, it was impossible to think that the two had been best friends before. Although, it wasn't like she hadn't observed him from afar. But it wasn't for stalking purposes; it was mere curiosity. He had grown considerably taller, even abnormally. His hair had, if it was possible, gotten even messier and his experience with handling girls had increased quite fairly. And he had muscles Tanaka was certain he would never have gotten without his tennis training.

It even made Tanaka laugh when she had found out that Niou had his own loyal fanclub. To think - scrawny, little, awkward, antisocial Niou turned into one of the most popular guys at school. Years ago, it was unthinkable. Today, it had already surpassed possible.

Niou had changed, and Tanaka like two years ago, stayed the same. She was still quiet, mature, antisocial, advice-giving, Tanaka, at least in front of the people who had known her from before. But now, she didn't care anymore. Time after time, she would remind herself that Niou was not her best friend anymore. When fangirls were crowding his locker, she was not threatened to protect him anymore. When the Rikkai cheerleaders would touch his biceps or whatever before or after a game, Tanaka didn't care anymore.

No, Niou Masaharu was out of her life. And whatever was happening at present was ending now. Niou was gonna live his susperstar regular life, and he is gonna leave Tanaka out of it, whether he likes to or not.

"It was over, Haru. Our friendship and anything else between us was over three years ago." Tanaka solidly said.

And two blocks away, Niou Masaharu felt a sudden pang. Where? He could not identify. But instinctively, he looked over to his former's best friends house and his handsome features were distorted into that of confusion.

"Tanaka?" He whispered silently to no one. And her name silently dispersed into the wind.

* * *

Review Answering Box!

If you guys have any questions at all about Tanaka, her history with Niou, any confusions about the story - please don't be refrained to ask. I'll gladly answer questions about the story.

Also, I'm sorry about the late update. I'll try my best to update with better and longer chapters! Thank you so much!

Updated: I didn't want to leave the readers with just a chapter. I figured that since I said that readers are allowed to ask questions, I should give them more to question. Haha. Also, I sneaked in a little Ranawa scene - a reviewer said that they weren't sure how the other OCs are gonna turn out, so I'm giving them more flesh than bone here.

Also, since I already updated this chapter, I figured I should answer Princess Alice Rose's question.

_Q: I would like to know if either one had had a crush on the other one or the romantic feelings are only going to start now in ?_

**A: ****Since I have redone this chapter, I though it might serve more for this question. Before junior high, just a couple of months before Niou's move, Tanaka began developing attractions for Niou but she doesn't know what it was before. The fact that she had been jealous over his hanging out with other girls or never spending time with her anymore shows just how emotionally attached she had been to him. For Niou, however...you gotta wait for next chapter to be answered. **

Thanks for asking, and for others - don't be afraid to ask about any confusions in the story. **Later!**

x x RadianceWithin x x**  
**


	6. Chapter 6: I Don't Need You

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **blacklightningwolf, cakecrazy, ****chivini, ChocoholicAddict22, Ciel Blanche, CoExist, demoncat13, hanonmm, Koori no Kitsune, Kyuubi-Demon, Michiko-Chii, miki727, Mochiiko, Osanai Yume, personaprincesspeach, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raine Amorial, strawbewii, xKisaragi-Raiix**, **xxxxihatepinkxxxx** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users: **applegreentea, asianFrustration, aznprincessali, blackcricket, CherriAme, ChocoholicAddict22, ChocolateFudgeSauce, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CoExist, CrushedCoppelia, EcstaticPetenshii, EdgeOfInsanity, GothicDiva112, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, Hidden in Sunlight, Ice-creamy-life, Killer Socks, Lumiere01, Midnight Hikari, Mochiiko, NothingNEverything, Ocean Wave Kira, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raf Kowalski, Raine Amorial, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, roonaty, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Shadowsnow, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, W. F Angel, xKisaragi-Raiix, , xxxxihatepinkxxxx **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Tanaka sighed in frustration as she hurriedly fled to her room before she gets interrogated by both her mother and Satoru. As she sat on her bed, her door securely locked, her head swam with frustration, annoyance, and irritation. Why of all people, did she have to be former best friends with Niou Masaharu? Of ALL SIX BILLION PEOPLE. Why the hell Niou Masaharu?

She wanted to vent her anger out on her pillow, but knew it would do nothing but add to her current mood. This had to end. Tanaka couldn't take it anymore. She wouldn't allow Niou Masaharu to enter her life and turn it into utter chaos once more. She already went through that hell three years ago, and she wasn't about to go through it again.

Tanaka stood up, and began searching the insides of her desk furiously - the school directory had to be there somewhere. She had remembered being annoyed by her parents for getting a directory and giving it to her. Tanaka had told them she had no use for it, as she could easily get any kind of information from either Kiseki or Ranawa.

Yet they handed it to her, telling her that she would use for it in the future. But Tanaka wasn't about to let them gloat over how right they are now. Finally, she saw the bright yellow-and-black papered covered book that strangely resembled a bumblebee. Tanaka set it down on her wooden desk, all sorts of junk clattered on her carpeted bedroom floor, with her phone in her shaky hand.

She flipped through pages, her eyes focusing on a single name: Niou. Finally, she found the landline number and shakily dialed it. Her lip was quivering and her insides were somersaulting for some unknown reason; maybe it was the fact that she had not spoken to Niou's parents for three years and they might ask some awkward questions.

But as a cheery voice answered her, Tanaka smiled in relief and began telling Mrs. Niou what she wanted to say.

* * *

Niou had just entered his house, in a carefree mood when his mother started shooing him away. Needless to say, Niou had gotten his trickster attitude from his own bloodline although it was his father who was always more comical than his mother. Despite this knowledge, he curiously questioned her, "Mother, please. I have no time for jokes right now."

She gave him a glare reminiscent to that of Sanada's worst. She pursed her lips and said through clenched teeth, her voice peppered with anger, "Masaharu, your friend called just ten minutes ago. She wants you to be at the nearby park in less than thirty minutes. Do not waste her time."

Niou only had one friend (at least, former friend) that his parents considered, "her." Curious as to what the matter was, he headed out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to his irritated mother.

It was not that far a walk from the park to his house. Only ten minutes, opposite to the direction of Tanaka's house, so Niou took his time walking. Much to his surprise, Tanaka seemed just as calm as he was. He expected a full-blast, earload of "What the crap where you doing, wasting my time? And here I was calling you first." Conversely, she sat on the wooden bench, her eyes facing her feet.

Her dark brown hair looked black as it swayed in the cold wind. Her eyes looked blank as she sat there waiting.

Niou stepped loudly on a crunchy leaf, and she looked up, startled.

"My mom said you wanted to see me." He faced her, about two feet away.

"I called her, yeah." Tanaka stood up, glad that her voice was no longer shaky and she was as calm and cool-headed as her nickname.

"Why?" Masaharu asked in a curious, yet easy-going tone of voice.

"I don't want be friends," Tanaka put it so bluntly, she could have sworn she sounded like an idiot. Niou raised his eyebrows at this. "At least...not now, not anymore." She added.

Masaharu's forehead creased in confusion. "Excuse me?" He placed his cold hands into his pocket, making it seem as if the conversation was not at all tense.

"I want you to stop coming and going into my life. Hang out with Satoru, yes. But I don't want you messing with mine anymore." Tanaka kept her chin up, not caring if she sounded childish. She felt dwarfed by Niou's tall figure, yet her pride kept her dignity alive.

Niou opened his mouth to say something but closed it. Then, a second later, he replied, "Tanaka, I didn't mean for you to think that I wanted to be friends with you again."

"Well, what did you mean for me to think?" Tanaka crossed her arms, a bit hurt by the slapping sentence that he had just said.

Niou pursed his lips, and crossed his arms as well. He had the face of an adult that was explaining something to an ignorant child; something that irritated Tanaka. "Think of it, Tanaka. All of our meetings, they were just coincidences. The library, it was coincidence. The orphanage and the park, it was coincidence. Satoru, it was a coincidence. It's not as if I planned it because trust me, I didn't. Maybe it seemed as if I was trying to rekindle our old friendship, but I wasn't."

Tanaka opened her mouth to interrupt but he didn't allow her.

"You know what, I think that's what made me separate from you. You've always been selfish, have you noticed? You always think the whole entire world revolved around you. And you've always been closed-minded. You kept barriers up, and when we met - that's why you had no friends. You always want other people to go up and reach to you, instead of you doing so. Maybe the whole entire reason why I began tennis was because I was sick of always having the same crowd. Yeah, you were a great friend - but it's always just the two of us. And soon, I became a loner too." Niou continued on, as if he was bursting out every single word he's kept in through the years. But to Tanaka, every single word was a slap in the face for her.

"And that's why I started tennis. Because I wanted to befriend other people. But soon you became overprotective and wanted to keep me for yourself, and I hated it. I felt that if I could gain friends, you could too. And that's the reason why I didn't say anything before I left. I thought that if I didn't say goodbye, maybe you would let go too. And you did, because you have your crowd now. It might be painful to hear, but I think I was only friends with you just because I felt like you needed me. I felt like you needed a friend, and there I was." Niou breathed out, sighing in relief that he was finally letting it all out.

"But I don't think we can ever be friends. Tennis is much more important for me than anything else right now. I don't want to be bothered by anything else. And your friends will never get along with mine. Accept it, we're too different. As a regular, I'm the center of attention, always there to please the school while you and your group work in the shadows, unnoticed and independent. Even if we tried to be friends, it'll all eventually fall apart again." He closed his eyes, and inhaled and exhaled, knowing now that he was finally done.

There was a pause. Only the swaying of the tree leaves and the noisy wind could be heard between the two.

Tanaka gave him a solemn smile. "Why didn't you say so before?" She tried to hide the hurt in her voice.

"What would you have done? I couldn't just go up to your face back then and tell you everything. I feel like I can now." Niou shrugged his shoulders, hoping that she would not cry.

Tanaka curved her mouth in an uncaring smile and Niou seemed fazed about it for a second. "Oh. Sou ka." She uncrossed her arms, and let them lie limp to her side. Her voice was icy cold, and her eyes stared at his in the same blank-like look she had before.

"I didn't mean to offend or insult you." Niou added, hoping that it will make the situation better.

Tanaka turned her head to the side, as if unfazed by his words. "I wasn't insulted or offended at all." Her voice was so calm, if a stranger overheard their conversation, they would have thought Niou had truly not said anything hurtful.

"Right. Well, are you going home afterwards? Because I can - " Niou changed the subject, still disconcerted by the fact that she seemed so calm.

Tanaka pursed her lips, looking unabashed and composed. "Actually, I have to go somewhere else after this. See you around then." She pocketed her hands, and walked away, barely touching shoulders with him. She was about 20 feet away, when Niou turned around and gazed at her turned back. For a second, he felt a pang of pain. It was like his move all over again.

"Tanaka-chan!" A childish voice called out, in the middle of the park. A tiny girl carrying a pink heart-shaped balloon, with a Hello Kitty backpack was running towards the Ice Princess. Tanaka seemed to escape from her icy trance as the girl engulfed her in a teddy bear hug. The teenage girl hugged gently back.

As the smaller girl let go, Tanaka bent her knees to meet her in an eye-level. Niou watched, still and silent.

"Hey. Where did you come from?" Tanaka said in a soft voice, a voice that Niou deemed nonexistent. The young girl gave Tanaka a bright beam of a smile. She pointed at the balloon tied neatly around her wrist, "A concert, Naka-chan! It was so pretty! And there was pink everywhere!" She made a huge circle with her arms, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Tanaka couldn't help but smile along. It was as if Niou was not there at all.

And as the tall tennis regular watched his former best friend smile happily with the young girl, he couldn't help but notice her cheerful smile; so unlike the one she had given him before. And for a moment, it pained him to think that she had never smiled like that while with him for a whole three years.

* * *

It was nearing afternoon by the time Tanaka had gotten home. She had spent her day alone, poring over books in the library. She was still pained by Niou's words, and the whole entire day, they had echoed in her brain uncountable times. Yet still, she told herself that she would not be fazed and she would not be distracted.

When she got home, Satoru was in the game room, playing video games while her parents were at work again. She stuck her head into the game room to tell Satoru that she was home before heading silently into her room.

Once there, Tanaka closed the door tightly and locked it. She tossed her newly borrowed library books on the bed carelessly, then dug into her desk once more. The whole entire time, her thoughts were, _"Our friendship was all a lie. He never cared about me. I was just part of his pity party. We were never truly best friends. It was all a lie." _

**_LIE._**

In triumph, she found what she was looking for. It was a thick picture book filled with uncountable and cherished memories (as the advertisement had said). Tanaka flipped through the pages, her eyes now thick with tears. She could barely see as the teardrops fell onto the picture book.

She took out every single picture that included Niou in it. Even their graduation picture; it depicted a smiling Tanaka and an embarrassed Masaharu holding their diplomas. Niou's arm was thrown over her shoulder, while both gave awkward grins. Finding her scissors, Tanaka mercilessly cut the picture in half. She took a plastic bag that was dangling randomly on her door hook and put it beside her.

As she took Niou out of every single photo, she felt a burst of satisfaction. Not a single ounce of guilt nor conscience stopped her as the pile of cut-out Nious grew and grew until Tanaka was finally done. She chucked every single cut-out Masaharu into the plastic bag with an unconcerned ease. Then Tanaka carefully placed all of her pictures back into its former place; afterward, she threw the picture-filled plastic bag into the trash can and left if there with all of her other junk.

_That's where you belong, Niou. Our memories are worse than junk or trash. They were all lies. Stay there, where you belong. Stay away from me. Because I don't need you. I don't need your lies. I don't need your pity. I don't need your tricks. I don't need your pranks.  
_

_**I don't need you.**_

_**

* * *

**_

Tanaka did not spend her night crying. Instead, she acted normal as if nothing had happened that day. And when she entered her classroom the next day, with Niou staring at her for a mere second - she acted as if she was herself. Kiseki and Ranawa noticed something different, yet they did not say a single word. And so Tanaka sat on her desk, acting in the way her ignorant classmates assumed she was.

Tanaka Yoshida, the Ice Princess.

And when Masaharu Niou stared at her again, with his brilliant green eyes - Tanaka didn't glance his direction at all. She looked forward, fully aware that he was watching her, but ignored him completely. Let him see her back, was all she thought. After every lie he's told, he's not worthy to stare at me in the face and tell me _anything_.

But during lunch break, when everybody had headed out into the hallways and lunchroom and the roof and the gardens, Niou found a single sticky note on his desk; it was a bit crumpled and the edges were ripped off. His back had been turned and he had been speaking with Marui Bunta, who was right behind him. From the second he saw it, he knew it wasn't from another one of his fangirls. Usually, they would give him overly decorated stationery or an additional snack.

When he picked it up, he already had the notion of who had given it to him. Written on it, in a handwriting he knew so well, were five words that sent a heavy pang of pain through him.

**I don't need you either. **

* * *

Tanaka had thought twice about giving Niou the note. She didn't want to face him and have his fangirls began questioning her as to why she would talk to him. Neither did she want to give him any ideas that she was desperate or any other notion that might exist in a teenage boy's head. So in the end, she figured she might as well give him a note.

When she had left yesterday, she hid her feelings and buried them until she had gotten home. Tanaka wanted Niou to feel that she was not fazed by his words, nor will she behave in a way that will please others but not herself. She wanted to relay her final message. No, she needed to tell him that.

In the Rikkai school gardens, the seven girls ate in silence. Tanaka had chosen a seat next to Konomi, who seemed to have quite a delicious lunch as the tasty smell wafted through the air and got the other six girls looking at the bento. Konomi's face reddened a tad bit, but she did not say a word and just started munching on her food.

"Did you make that yourself?" Tanaka asked her, pointing at the various assortment of foods inside Konomi's bento.

Konomi swallowed a mouthful and replied, "Some of it. My sister Kirei is the better cook out of the two of us, though." She dropped her chopsticks to place a strand of wandering chocolate brown hair behind her ear.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Aeha said, looking up as she had chosen to sit on the ground, opposite of Konomi and Tanaka's bench.

Konomi looked up from her food. "I do. But she's the only sibling I have." She opened her bottled water delicately, smiling at ease.

"Aren't you lucky..." Naomi muttered in envy. Tanaka remembered that the Hayashi sisters had three more siblings that they had to take care of; something that Tanaka felt extreme pity for. The entire group chuckled in response.

Shoko set down her bento and opened a can of soda loudly; the fizzing noise hummed in the air. "Naomi has three other siblings. Two boys and one girl, right?" She informed Konomi, then inquired to the sulky leader.

"Uh-huh. But Aeha usually takes care of them, not me. They never listen to me." Naomi shook her head, her lips pursed.

Aeha rolled her green eyes at her older sister. Kiseki rolled her eyes as well. Then Tanaka decided to break the rolling-eyes streak and asked teasingly, "Does anyone ever?"

A chorus of threatening "oohs" sounded from the group, before they started laughing once more.

"Well... Maybe someone's cheery after all." Ranawa murmured, as she started drinking from her bottled water. Tanaka turned her attention to the wavy-haired brain of the group.

Tanaka crossed her arms after tossing her dark brown hair. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were quite the Ice Princess this morning." Kiseki stated, crossing her legs after munching on a biscuit. She stared at Tanaka, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. Everybody turned their eyes on the said Ice Princess.

Tanaka rolled her eyes and replied, "It's nothing to worry about." She tossed the comment away as if it was nothing.

"Hm... Is it Niou again?" Shoko teased her, a grin spreading on her usually mature face.

Tanaka stuck an immature tongue out. "So what if it was?"

Chuckles and "aws" spread through the group again, making the dirty garden seem more cheery.

"Speak of the devil." Kiseki pointed up, towards the rooftops. Niou Masaharu was standing near the fence, looking up towards the blue sky. His hands were placed casually inside his trousers, and his face looked blank and emotionless as if contemplating something.

Tanaka blinked and gave them a thoughtful smile. "He doesn't bother me anymore." They didn't look at all convinced, but Tanaka ignored their questioning glances and kept on eating. After that they chatted more about other plans, classes, and probing Kiseki to tell them about the upcoming school activities as she was part of the school student council.

It had been an uneventful lunch until the near end. Ranawa had checked her wristwatch and informed the group that lunch would be ending in ten minutes. So the group decided to head up and come in early for their next classes. Tanaka took her time cleaning up, and while Konomi offered to help her out, Tanaka told the helpful girl to go ahead.

As Tanaka was picking up her finished bento, and was about to throw it away - she noticed a familiar yellow sticky note. The edges were ripped off, and it had been more crumpled than when she had first had it.

In front of it was the message she wrote to Niou. On the back were six words that nearly made her heart stop.

**Who said I stopped needing you?**

She looked up, but Niou was nowhere to be found. But who else could have given her the note? She spent her walk up to class, even more confused than ever.

* * *

**THE END. **

Haha. Just kidding. So... Here's a longer written chapter than most and I hope you enjoy it. Now you finally get to see Tanaka's Ice Princess side and how she is worthy of that title. Anyways, I adore reading your guys' comments: I hope I get the reaction that I'm hoping for.

Thanks guys! I finished the 1st draft of this the day before Valentine's Day and was planning to post it on February 14th, but I realized that the 1st draft was too lacking. So here's the longer, more detailed 2nd draft for you awesome readers!

ALRIGHT. 3rd draft. I'm so sorry guys! I swear I'll try to break this habit.

x x Radiance Within x x


	7. Chapter 7: Reactions

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **14thEternityNightMare, blacklightningwolf, boncuk5174, cakecrazy, celtic27fionn, Charmaine1st, Cherry Blossom Tea, chillybean, ****chivini, ChocoholicAddict22, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CrystalHeart27, demoncat13, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, hanonmm, Koori no Kitsune, kyotolover, Kyuubi-Demon, meeqhuanne009, miki725, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, Osanai Yume, personaprincesspeach, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raine Amorial, Rin136, Shitenhouji Chuu, Sleepy Maple, strawbewii, vivvy09, xKisaragi-Raiix**, **xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxssorrowxx, **and** xxxxihatepinkxxxx** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users:**14thEternityNightMare, Angel-chan1992, applegreentea, asianFrustration, aznprincessali, boncuk5174, BridgeofInsanity, cayleyjanssen, celtic27fionn, CherriAme, Cherry Blossom Tea, ChocoholicAddict22, ChocolateFudgeSauce, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CrushedCoppelia, demon twin, demoncat13, EcstaticPetenshii, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, GothicDiva112, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, Hidden in Sunlight, iamspastic, IsaBis, Ice-creamy-life, Jaklyn-The-Pixie, Killer Socks, KL93, kyotolover, Lumiere01, Midnight Hikari, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, NothingNEverything, Ocean Wave Kira, personaprincesspeach, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raf Kowalski, Raine Amorial, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, Rin136, roonaty, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Shadowsnow, Shitenhouji Chuu, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, xKisaragi-Raiix, , xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxxVampy-chanxxx, xxxxihatepinkxxxx, **and **xYuzuruRengex **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Tanaka did not bother reading the note again. She knew that those six words would haunt her even more than it did the first time. She simply crushed it and left it lying inside her pocket, unable (maybe even frightened) to read it once more. Why was Niou Masaharu so damn confusing?

"Like a girl on her monthly gift..." She mumbled under her breath as she sat back down on her chair, ignoring the stares she was getting from her fellow classmates.

Ranawa suddenly turned from her seat and stated the obvious. "You look as if you're about to murder somebody, Naka."

"Now, now - let's not push the issue." Kiseki interrupted, not giving Tanaka the chance to speak. Ranawa gave Tanaka a silent stare, a stare the 9th grader knew so well. Ranawa had the annoying tendency to analyze people's emotions and thoughts by simply looking at them.

With a thoughtful smile, Ranawa stated, "It's about him." She gestured with a motion of her head towards the silent trickster of the courts who had a mischievous smile pasted on his face.

"Leave it, Ranawa." Tanaka coldly told her analytical friend as she picked up her school bag and began taking out paper and a piece of pencil.

Tanaka could hear the dark-haired 9th grader sigh and was well aware that she and Kiseki were exchanging knowing glances at each other. From the corner of her eye, she could see Niou lightly conversing with Marui Bunta in a friendly casual manner. Tanaka narrowed her eyes.

She turned her eyes back on her piece of paper and clenched her pencil tightly. Class was not due to start until ten minutes later. By the time Kiseki and Ranawa were too busy preparing their own utensils, Tanaka pressed her pencil down a half sheet of paper that she had quietly ripped.

"**Quit playing with me. I'm not falling for your tricks anymore.**" She hurriedly wrote in a (enter a slight wince) terrible scrawl. Tanaka looked up to see if more students were entering, and sighed in relief as she stared closely at the unmoving door. Crumpling up the piece of paper in a makeshift ball, Tanaka managed to throw it towards Niou's direction just a second before Ranawa turned to ask her a question.

"You know what I don't understand? The fact that no matter how much you try to ignore him, he stills manages to find his way into your life." Ranawa told Tanaka philosophically, to which the latter rolled her eyes in response.

Tanaka tossed her hair back and shrugged. "He's a persistent boy."

"You say it like it's fact." Kiseki chimed in, scrunching up her nose as Tanaka's hair hit her face in a quick whip.

Tanaka grinned. "I say things like it's fact. It's part of my personality."

"Uh-huh. Screwed-up personality." Ranawa muttered under her breath, low enough for others to hear but loud enough for Tanaka to listen to.

With this, an eyebrow belonging to the said girl instinctively went up. "I can hear you." She replied in a solid tone.

"You were supposed to, Naka." Kiseki patted her twice on the shoulder from behind and Tanaka did not bother to look since she already knew a sickeningly-sweet smile was upon her best friend's face.

Tanaka did not respond to this, but merely turned a smidgen towards Niou's direction to see if he had received her warning letter (which as opposed to the pink frilly love letters placed on his desk consecutively every day, was quite plain and messy.) He had picked it up and laid it on his desk, and is currently trying to push the curious Marui away.

After the redhead was finally convinced (through violent pushing and physical shoving) that this was one letter he was required to keep his eyes off of, Niou took a black pen and for a fraction of a second, his eyes moved towards the also-curious Tanaka. As soon as she saw the shift in his eyes, Tanaka swiftly moved her head inconspicuously towards the front of the room.

She didn't dare turn again. The teacher entered the room moments after the quick exchange and announced to the class (in an enthusiastic manner, to which the students responded in a more negative attitude) that they will be learning indirect and direct nouns for English.

"Indirect and direct. Life is mocking me." Tanaka mumbled under her breath, as the late students began filing in and the rest of class buzzed with the noise of moving chairs and zippers being opened.

The teacher glanced at her direction. "What was that, Yoshida-san?" As if in instinct, the whole class turned to look at her. Being the teacher's instantaneous target never had perks. But Tanaka barely moved an inch.

"Nothing." She replied in a casual manner, as the rest of the class went back to their usual noise.

Already Tanaka could feel her friends' smirks from in front and behind her.

"Smooth save, Ice Princess." Ranawa and Kiseki muttered under their breaths in unison.

Tanaka smirked.

* * *

After hours of absorbing indirect and direct nouns in English, Algebra III Review in Math, and different elements in Chemistry, Tanaka wasn't reluctant to feel glad that the school bell had finally rung. The students who were in the back row and had been sleeping with no hesitance, shook off their drool and took off almost in a non-humane manner.

Kiseki was scribbling down her last page of notes in an attempt to have a better understanding of the lesson when she gets home (a habit that Tanaka gets weary of whenever she agrees to review with her best friend).

Ranawa had just set her pencil back in her navy pouch, and was placing her notes carefully into her binder. Tanaka stretched her arms as she placed her notes back into her bag with a careful ease. She shook off her aching hand as she used the other to put her pencil back into it's pouch.

Tanaka looked down to her bag and suddenly noticed the wadded piece of paper she had thrown at Niou's unsuspecting direction. He, much to her surprise, was still in the room. Tanaka had observed that he would normally leave the classroom much earlier, the reason of which remains unknown to the curious teenager. His head was bent down on his notes, scratching the back of his neck in a boyish ease.

Hurriedly, Tanaka picked up the crumpled note before other students would notice this atrocious scandal (the Ice Princess passing notes in class? How shocking! How terrible!). She rolled her eyes at her own instinctive thoughts as she unfurled the piece of paper.

Straightening it out, Tanaka suddenly felt a rush of reluctance. But the fraction-of-a-second feeling passed just as quickly as it had come. She stared at the words, as if she expected them to come alive and bite her face. Her mouth was slightly opened as she looked behind her, only to see Kiseki's rigid smile.

When Tanaka turned back around, Ranawa was facing her with a solemn expression. The three of them shifted their eyes onto Niou's desk which, just as they predicted, was as empty as a bodiless chair. Maybe because it was a bodiless chair.

A shiver ran through Tanaka's neck and she stared at the words again. Without a second thought, the teenage girl stood up and picked up her bag off of the floor.

"I'm going. Tell the others they can go home without me." Tanaka told them in a hollow tone, as if her voice had lost all sense of emotion.

Ranawa and Kiseki glanced at each other and then slowly looked back at Tanaka, who was halfway through the door already. She turned back to look at the both of them.

Kiseki sighed. "If something happens, just tell us, okay?"

She was answered with a nod. Her eyes shifted to Ranawa, but the only response she was met with was another stoic smile. Tanaka turned and headed out towards the crowded hallway. The last thing she heard was Ranawa's worried voice, "Must be hard to be Ice Princess all the time."

Tanaka sighed at this and crumpled the note in her fist. A trash can was nearing her, and a strong urge to chuck it along with the other garbage came upon her. Then, in the process of inhaling and exhaling, Tanaka calmly placed it inside her bag.

The five words echoed in her mind.

**Meet me at the rooftop.**

* * *

As much as Tanaka would have wanted to admit that she walked with ease, calm and collected - she couldn't. Instead, she was anxious, nervous, and as much as she hated to admit it - frightened. This was the first time she would have interacted with Niou on school grounds. Why did that scare her so badly?

Tanaka didn't know the answer. Instead, she focused on the ground below her, hoping it would not crumble down under her feet, just like how she imagined it did when Niou had told her everything was a lie.

Whenever the silver-haired tennis prodigy entered her mind, it only ached her brain. Especially the past couple of weeks had been the most excruciatingly confusing days she had lived. He was unreadable, nothing could faze him, and was just simply confusing.

Tanaka had finally reached the rooftop stairs, and hesitantly, she opened the door. Niou was on the edge of the fence, his hands pocketed and his back was to her. Even at the sound of the opening door, he did not turn.

"What?" Tanaka questioned him, her voice sounding imperious, unbroken, and solid. A breeze went through the both of them, as he faced her.

Niou's green eyes seemed shadowed and his head was hanging, facing the ground. Tanaka scowled.

"What?" She repeated herself, in a much more forceful voice.

Niou stepped nearer to her. "I'm not playing with you." He answered softly.

"Then what the hell are you doing?" Tanaka cried out in frustration. Right there, she had the impulse to slap his pretty little cheek to that he could fix his mind up already.

Niou looked up, his eyes meeting hers. "Why would you think that?" He responded in a gentler tone than before.

"Why do you think, Niou? Huh? Why do you think I would think that?" Tanaka rounded on him. But his eyes, his striking green eyes struck her as if to soften her. She shifted her gaze away from them and came near the fence and punched it in frustration.

Niou turned around to face her once more. "Tanaka - " He started, but she had already started interrupting him.

"You befriend me, we become best friends. Then suddenly, you start leaving me behind. Then you still expect to act like your best friend even when we haven't talked in months. You leave without telling me a single word. I find you here, expecting for you to at least say a greeting. You ignore me as if you never knew I existed. Then suddenly you start being my friend again. Then you say you've been faking me the whole entire time? What the hell, Masaharu? Why can't you just make up your damn - ! " Tanaka had been going on, hurriedly and letting her voice grow louder and louder.

Until Niou silenced her, as he pressed his lips against hers. Tanaka stood, frozen. Her mind jumbled of thoughts of what to do, of what's happening. Yet she stood, as still as a statue.

Niou, on the other hand, deepened the kiss as he cupped her chin on one hand and wrapping his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He pulled away for a second, his eyes meeting hers and still there was no response. She was standing there, defenseless as the boy she had considered her best friend was pulling her in for another kiss.

He pressed his lips against hers once more, but it was a simple chaste kiss. He placed his forehead upon hers, removing his hand from her chin and wrapping it around her waist along with the other one and pulled her in so close, that they were not even the slightest centimeter apart.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that..." Niou breathed out as Tanaka looked up at him, her face transfixed in the middle of shock and more shock. Finally, she snapped out of her trance and suddenly realized what just happened.

When he leaned in for another kiss, Tanaka pushed him away and wordlessly, she ran out of the rooftop, leaving him behind. She ran and ran and ran, until she stopped at the entrance of the school were her friends were conversing lightly.

They turned at the sound of her heavy panting.

"Tanaka, what happened to you?" Konomi stepped towards her, her face the picture of worry.

The said girl dropped her bag and rubbed her forehead. She turned towards Ranawa and Kiseki. Then in an attempt to explain, the only words that escaped her wore, "I - and then stairs - and then the rooftop - and then Niou - and then I got mad - and then he kissed me!" Tanaka yelled out.

"Excuse me, Niou did what?" Naomi chimed in, eyebrows raised.

Tanaka breathed in and then out. "KISSED ME! Niou Masaharu, that traitor of a best friend, kissed the crap out of me! How do you explain that? Huh? Is there even logic in that? Huh? Explain this to me!" She begged, shaking Kiseki who looked just as shocked as the others.

"Alright, alright. So Niou kissed you, did he say anything else?" Ranawa questioned the confused teenage girl, whose face was red with embarrassment, confusion, tiredness.

Tanaka breathed. "He said...well, I think he said...You don't know how long I've wanted to do that... Something like that!" She attempted to grab a hold of Ranawa's shoulders but her friend held her back at an arm's length.

"...Calm down, child. Calm dooown." Kiseki told her best friend jokingly as Ranawa placed a hand on her hip and contemplated, her stoic face captured by a deep thinking expression.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the rooftop, Niou was leaning dejectedly on the fence, his arms crossed. He had practically ditched tennis practice, and there was no doubt that Sanada would be no less angry at the silver-haired trickster. As the rooftop door swung open, Masaharu was not surprised to see Marui Bunta and Yagyuu Hiroshi in their tennis uniforms emerge.

"Sanada-kun's - " Yagyuu started but the trickster interrupted him.

In a deep sigh, Niou stood up straight from the fence. "I know."

"You finally told her?" Yagyuu questioned curiously, crossing his arms as Marui looked at the both of them, undoubtedly confused.

Niou hung his head. "She ran."

"...What?" Marui chimed in, his hands on his hips as he stared back and forth between Yagyuu and Niou. His eyes were childishly confused and his voice demanded to be told what he wanted to be told.

Yagyuu sighed. "Niou-kun's been having...girl trouble." He added the last part reluctantly and unconvincingly.

"Is it Yoshida? Ice Princess?" Marui interrogated, his eyebrows raised at the silver-haired teen who rolled his eyes in response.

Niou sighed at the curious Marui. "No, Bunta. It's Ritsu."

"But Konomi - !" The redhead was interrupted by the rational Gentleman of the courts.

Yagyuu stepped into the conversation and rigidly smiled. "He was just joking, Marui-kun. Truly, Niou. What did you do so drastic that made her run?"

"I kissed her." Niou plainly and simply replied, so blunt that for a second his teammates did not believe him.

Yagyuu chuckled as Marui gaped in shock. The gentleman shook his head in disapproval. "You should have known better than to have than that."

"Yeah, exactly! The poor girl must have been as confused as heck!" Marui added in a tone that made Niou scowl.

Niou rolled his eyes. "She was ranting. I hate it when she rants. Her words start to sink and whatever she says, you believe. It makes you feel vulnerable and weak, like her words are the only thing to believe. So I shut her up by kissing her. It wasn't the smartest choice, but it was my first instinct." He shrugged as if to shake his anxiousness off.

"And since when have you ever done what your instincts tell you? Especially when it comes to girls?" Yagyuu questioned him in a testing tone.

Niou frowned. "I'm used to keeping girls away. Especially the fangirls. I know what they think, and I know why they do what they do. But Tanaka - she's independent, free-willed, individualistic, opinionated. Just like the other girls in her inconspicuous little group. Those kind of girls, they're hard to find nowadays. She's always been like that, and that's what attracted me to her in the first place."

"And kissing her and confusing her was your brilliant idea to woo her?" Marui raised an eyebrow at the trickster, wolf-whistling in a teasing way.

Niou's scowl deepened. "I never said it was brilliant. I said it was my first instinct so I did what I did."

"You'll have to explain more thoroughly to her tomorrow. But odds are, she'll be trying to ignore you as much as she can." Yagyuu told his teammate, sighing at his instinctive idiocy.

Niou's frown lightened and he let out a sigh. "Could you two try to help me? Marui, you talk with Ritsu a lot, right? And Yagyuu, Shimizu's part of the council like you, right?"

"What does us having connections with her friends help you?" Marui huffed, crossing his arms.

Niou blinked. "Maybe if you guys can try to break in through their group - " The trickster was interrupted.

"Niou-kun, their group isn't just hard to break through. Their group is impossible to break through. The only exception being Ritsu-san, whom they've been eying since the school year began. In addition, their leaders have strong dislike for the tennis club, and especially the tennis team." Yagyuu explained, an index finger pointed.

Marui blinked as well. "Konomi's never mentioned that before." He mused, his hand wrapped around his chin.

"Shoko Tokiwa is the captain of the archery club and Naomi Hayashi, I believe, is a member of the softball club. They are both capable of playing tennis, yet refuses to. They don't believe in our principles and us trying to break through the little club they created would only fuel the fire." Yagyuu crossed his arms, breathing in as he finished explaning.

Niou rolled his eyes. "Yagyuu, if you're lying - " Once again, the trickster was interrupted.

"Shimizu-san herself says so. She goes to the same cram school as I, and I have personally asked her why she would not join the girl's tennis club as she seems to be quite knowledgeable about the sport. She mumbled something about Tokiwa and Hayashi disapproving of it." Yagyuu explained himself, looking Niou straight in the eye.

Marui frowned. "So Konomi and Yoshida are part of some unofficial club with over-controlling leaders?" He shook his head in disapproval.

"No. They're...more like, a sisterhood," Niou chimed in, his eyes facing the sky, "I've been Tanaka's longtime best friend. And yet, I've never seen her more happier than with them. I suppose...I just have to talk things out with her."

Yagyuu nodded. "Yes, talk. Not kiss things out with her. Talk things out with her." He reminded the trickster who gave him a searing glare.

"So Niou, since when have you been in love with your best friend?" Marui asked him curiously to which he was answered by a smack on the back of the head.

* * *

On the other side of the school, Tanaka's group had already started walking and Ranawa still had not given the frantic confused teenage girl an explanation.

It wasn't until they arrived near Konomi's house that Ranawa paused in her tracks and told Tanaka, "If things go with my calculations, just be ready to talk things out with him."

Tanaka raised an eyebrow at this and sighed. She shouldn't have expected a clear prediction from Ranawa. However, as much as Tanaka dislikes to admit it, most of Ranawa's predictions came to be true. Kiseki could only pat her best friend on the back and give Ranawa a questioning glance to which she was responded to with a simple shrug.

"Tanaka-chan, I hope everything turns out okay." Konomi smiled as she walked up to her porch.

The said girl grinned back. "It's nothing major, Konomi. You don't have to worry about me, I'm a big girl." Konomi nodded and waved back to the group as she entered her house slowly and disappeared as the wooden door closed with a soft clack.

"Uh-huh. A big girl who panicked when her "best friend" scared her with a kiss." Shoko mumbled under breath, to which Naomi nudged the vice-leader playfully.

Tanaka gave Shoko a searing glare and scowled. "Imagine it as if Sanada kissed you. Wouldn't you be frightened?"

"No, I would be downright furious and demand instant expulsion for a sexual assault." Shoko replied, not flinching at all.

Aeha giggled. "A kiss is not a sexual assault." She smiled as if Shoko was being childishly silly.

"But for Ms. Heartless here, it is." Naomi nudged her best friend who rolled her eyes in response.

Kiseki chuckled. "Now, now - let us not poke fun of Shoko's lack of heart."

"Not exactly helping, Kiseki." Shoko answered, shaking her head.

Tanaka smiled. "Yeah, she tends to not." She was answered by a playful shove as Ranawa merely ignored the group's inner childishness.

"What is the deal with you and Sanada?" Tanaka added curiously as Naomi, Kiseki, and Ranawa looked at each other in knowing glances. Aeha turned her head towards the majority of the group, looking like a wondrous child who has for the first time, entered a candy store.

Naomi sighed. "Those two have been in competition with each other ever since junior high. You can call them unofficial rivals."

"Eh? Rivals? They don't even belong in the same clubs." Tanaka answered, her brow furrowing.

Ranawa smirked as she crossed her arms in superiority. "The boy's tennis club has a great influence over the girl's tennis club. The exact reason as to why Shoko did not join."

"Don't you think that's a bit immature?" Aeha replied lightly but was silenced with a single cold stare from the competitive dark-haired third year.

Kiseki chuckled. "Haven't we established that Shoko was anything but immature?"

"No, that has not been established." Naomi wittily responded, to which Shoko rolled her eyes.

Tanaka grinned. "We're all still immature in one aspect."

"You would know about immaturity." Shoko mumbled under her breath. She answered by a chorus of laughter from the group.

Ranawa laughed. "Truly, she would. You do understand that this Niou thing is something that you can't keep avoiding forever."

"I'm not avoiding it." Tanaka retorted, as she realized that they were nearing her home.

Kiseki gave her a knowing smile. "You know you are, Naka. Face the problem now, or else you'll never be able to face it."

Tanaka frowned as she walked up to her front porch. "I'll face it whenever I want."

"Life doesn't work that way." Naomi reminded her in a sing-songy tone.

The scowling third year scratched the back of her head in a childlike fashion. "I know. I know." She sighed in defeat as she waved them goodbye and opened the door to be met by her a grinning Satoru who was waving his new tennis racket around like a gold trophy.

It was her mother's off-day and the Yoshida wife had been busy in the kitchen making dinner for the three of them. Tanaka's father usually came home too late for dinner and the family was used to this unfortunate fact.

"I'll be up in my room, doing homework. I'll be down in a couple of hours, Okaa-san." Tanaka told her mother who nodded knowingly from the kitchen.

Tanaka patted Satoru in the head fondly as she walked up the stairs and set her bag down carelessly on the floor. Tossing her school shoes onto a solitary corner of her room, the teenage girl tiredly laid down on her bed.

Brushing her hair out of her, Tanaka sighed. "This is getting ridiculous."

She then proceeded to reach into her backpack to un-mute her phone and was surprised to see that she had gotten two missed calls from the same unknown number. Reluctantly, she pressed the send button and listened as it rang.

"Yoshida-san, might this be you?" A familiar voice answered.

Tanaka slightly frowned. "Yes, this is Yoshida. Who is this?"

"This is Yagyuu Hiroshi, from Class A." Yagyuu replied.

Tanaka sat up and leaned her back against the wall. "Yagyuu-san, this is surprising. What is it?"

"I'm calling to apologize in Niou-kun's stead." He responded.

Tanaka inwardly sighed softly. "There is no need. So, you know what happened at the rooftop?"

"Only I and Marui know, don't worry. But please accept my apology. Niou-kun's actions may be unpredictable, but he means well." Yagyuu said.

Tanaka narrowed her eyes. She could trust Yagyuu, but Marui? He could be a chatterbox if he wanted to be. If word gets out - but she cut off her train of thought as she replied to the waiting Yagyuu, "As kind as it is that you're apologizing in his stead, I can't accept such an insincere apology. If there is an apology I can accept, it must come from Niou's own mouth or else it is not an apology at all."

"Is that so? I understand." Something in his voice tweaked, as Tanaka's eyes narrowed even more.

She smirked as she shook her head in disbelief. "That is so. Oh, and next time, Niou - disguise your voice with more conviction."

Tanaka was about to press the end button when the voice changed and she heard a sigh.

"Naka, wait."

She grumpily sighed and crossed her arms in annoyance. As much as she knew she should end the call right there and then, she couldn't find the will do so.

"Listen. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I scared you or confused you or troubled you. But you have to hear me out. Please. No lies. No tricks. Just listen to my side of the story." Niou's voice was tainted with desperation.

Tanaka rolled her eyes as she exhaled with irritation. "I already heard your side of the story, Haru. There's nothing else to hear. What you did was improper and impolite, and you know it too. You still have tricks up your sleeves and I'm not falling for them."

"Che. You haven't changed at all. Unfortunately, in my case." Niou chuckled through the other line. "Naka, tell me. If I told you I loved you two years ago, would you have responded as you did today?"

Tanaka scowled. "Is this a rhetorical question?"

"Skeptical as always. No, it isn't. Answer me honestly. At the beginning of junior high - if I told you I loved you, would you have pushed me away and ran?" Niou questioned.

Tanaka ran a hand through her hair. "You were my best friend."

"Am I still?"

Tanaka sighed. "Of course not."

"Then would you have had the same reaction?"

Tanaka avoided the question. "I'll always see you as a best friend, even if we're not."

"And nothing more?"

Tanaka sighed, yearning to know the answer. "I wish I knew."

"I'll make you know." He cryptically responded and with that, the conversation was over.

Tanaka stared at the phone screen and cried out, "Niou? What in the world is that supposed to mean? Masaharu Niou! Ugh! I hate you!" She cradled her head in her hands as she tossed her phone to the other side of her bed.

She rubbed her forehead and instinctively looked outside, towards the setting sunset scenery.

And suddenly the echoes of their laughter, their chuckles, and their giggles sounded through the streets as the light turned to dusk and each one of them just entered the frightening phase of life - the teenage years.

And when tomorrow turns to yesterday, and good becomes bad - all each one of them could hope for is that life would get easier and that each puzzle piece would fit in the spot where they want it to be. But at the same time, maybe they are hoping for mistakes as well. To learn from them perhaps.

Or maybe it's the time to fall in love. Maybe to the wrong person, maybe to the right. But in the end, the future didn't matter. As they walked towards the fading sunset, all that mattered were the precious moments they were sharing and the countless memories that will continue hereafter.

Life has tricks, alright. But that doesn't mean you can't out-trick life. And as Tanaka smirked at the last ray of the sun, she knew it wasn't the end just yet.

* * *

After a long break, I hope all of you fantastic readers enjoy this chapter. I love you guys, and without your support - Konomi, Tanaka, Ranawa, Kiseki, Aeha, Naomi, and Shoko would merely be a figment of my imagination. But with your continuous kindness, they are truly real. Whether you choose to let their journeys enter your own lives is up to you, but I hope that each moment that their sisterhood share will live on in your hearts and give you hope that true friendship truly does exist.

Thanks guys!

x x RadianceWithin x x

P.S. And a shout-out to kyotolover, who has been waiting patiently for this chapter!

P.S.S. I would also like to thank MissCatLover Chii whose amazing reviews led me to find the drive to update See Yourself, and now the rest of my stories. Thank you again!

P.S.S.S. I have lengthened the chapter once more just because I felt the readers deserved more. I hope the additional 600 words will raise more eyebrows (and hopefully questions as well) for the upcoming chapter 8. Thank you again!


	8. Chapter 8: My Importance

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **14thEternityNightMare, blacklightningwolf, boncuk5174, cakecrazy, celtic27fionn, Charmaine1st, Cherry Blossom Tea, chillybean, ****chivini, ChocoholicAddict22, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CrystalHeart27, demoncat13, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, hanonmm, Koori no Kitsune, kyotolover, Kyuubi-Demon, Mavarta, meeqhuanne009, miki725, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, Osanai Yume, personaprincesspeach, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raine Amorial, Rin136, Shitenhouji Chuu, Sleepy Maple, SUPAfast JeLLyFisH, **** strawbewii, vivvy09, xHicchan, xKisaragi-Raiix**, **xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxssorrowxx, **and** xxxxihatepinkxxxx** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users:**14thEternityNightMare, Angel-chan1992, applegreentea, asianFrustration, aznprincessali, boncuk5174, BridgeofInsanity, cayleyjanssen, celtic27fionn, , CherriAme, Cherry Blossom Tea, ChocoholicAddict22, ChocolateFudgeSauce, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CrushedCoppelia, demon twin, demoncat13, Deplorability, EcstaticPetenshii, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, gonda96, GothicDiva112, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, Hidden in Sunlight, iamspastic, IsaBis, Ice-creamy-life, Jaklyn-The-Pixie, Killer Socks, KL93, kyotolover, Lumiere01, Mavarta, Midnight Hikari, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, NothingNEverything, Ocean Wave Kira, personaprincesspeach, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raf Kowalski, Raine Amorial, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, Rin136, roonaty, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Shadowsnow, Shitenhouji Chuu, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, wiznoy,xHicchan .Xx, xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxxVampy-chanxxx, xxxxihatepinkxxxx, **and **xYuzuruRengex **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Tanaka wasn't going to lie: she barely got any sleep last night. Hours of turning over on her back, her mind full of nothing but Niou Masaharu (why did she get the strange feeling that that was what he was aiming for the whole entire time?). She woke up that morning earning worried stares from her extremely chirpy (not to mention, irritating) little brother. He wasted no time in pointing it out to their tired mother who had been carefully watching them through very narrowed eyes.

Knowing that a fight would ensue her mother into casting them both to be grounded, Tanaka kept her teeth clenched and her head down as she ate her usual bowl of morning cereal. Satoru kept a long daunting stare at her, as she looked at nothing but the clumps of soggy pieces from her bowl. "I'm heading to school." He finally announced, hopping off his stool and hastily washing his bowl and spoon.

"Have fun." Tanaka replied sarcastically, wiping a few strands of her bangs away from her face. _"I really need to cut my hair again..."_ Her train of thought drifted towards the time Niou had argued with her about the length of her long locks.

* * *

_"Tanaka, don't you think it's about time you cut your hair? It's kinda starting to scare me." He told her one day, his tone as blunt as an axe. She had been reading a very captivating mystery novel at that time, and stared at him like he was crazy. Even back then, Tanaka didn't care much about her physical appearance. Heck - her own mother had to force her to brush her teeth every night. _

_Tanaka sighed, as she set her book down promptly and gave him a solid look. "No, Haru. I don't care what you think - I'm not cutting it." Truthfully, she cared a teensy bit. If most people were to say that, she'd brush their comment off and ignore them. But hearing it from her own best friend did sting a little. _

_He echoed her sigh and sat down in his own desk and faced her. "You're a girl, Naka. You're supposed to care about what guys think of you." They were only into their third month of fifth grade at that time, and Tanaka had the strong urge to point that out to his smart-aleck face. Closing the book gently, so that the binding wouldn't be harmed, Tanaka crossed her arms in front of him and scowled._

_"So I look like a ghoul and scare some people off, big deal." She threw away her worries, and crossed her legs then leaned back against her desk in a casual fashion. Tanaka stared down from the window towards the sounds of her laughing schoolmates who seemed to have no care in the world. She rolled her eyes at their childishness and turned away from the distracting noise._

_Niou stood up and began picking at strands of her hair, examining them carefully like a scientist would to his newest experiment. Tanaka was about to slap his hands off, when he slowly let go of her locks and pocketed his hands casually then leaned against a nearby desk. He stared at her and in a poker-face said, "Tell you what, you get a haircut and I'll give you a reward."_

_"I'm not stupid, Haru." She stood up and faced him, her arms crossing themselves, mirroring his own stance. They both glared daggers at each other for some minutes before Niou rolled his eyes back and scowled. "You don't trust your own best friend, Naka? I'm hurt." He teased her, a smirk making its way through his trickster face. _

_Tanaka looked down onto the floor surrounded by her abnormally long locks, her ice-like blue eyes hidden by her dark brown bangs. "Fine. But I'll get it cut my own way, not yours." She crossed her arms at him, knowing that he won't be able to reprimand the compromise. He shrugged his shoulders in satisfaction and sat back down in his seat, just seconds before the recess ending bell rang and other students began to clutter inside the classroom._

_Later that day, Tanaka reluctantly asked her mother to take her to the nearest hair salon, to which her own mother raised a curious eyebrow in surprise. Expecting that particular reaction, the fifth grader merely shrugged her shoulders and resorted to isolating herself inside her room for the rest of the day in solitary embarrassment. _

_However, the Saturday of that week, Tanaka found herself on a hair salon seat with a smiling hairstylist at her side with a pair of clean cutting scissors. Unashamed to admit it, she did squirm a little in her chair. It had been a long time since she had gotten herself a haircut. But after the hairstylist began cutting long strands of her precious locks, Tanaka knew there was no turning back. _

_An hour later, she faced a girl with short wavy tresses and side-swept bangs, her own blue eyes staring at her in shock. Lightly touching the tips of her hair (just to make sure that the reflection was not at all an illusion, and in fact, real), Tanaka let out a loud sigh of relief. It wasn't at all as bad as she had spent all of last night thinking. She turned around to face her mother and her opened-jawed little brother (who had, with no hesitation, already began teasing his older sister by the lack of her trademark lengthy hair during the car ride home). _

_Her mother gave a small prideful smile, and Tanaka couldn't help but smile back. Later that day, she gave Niou a surprise visit, just to see how he would take the haircut he so dearly wanted of her. He did seem a bit awestruck at first, but he had quickly reverted back to his snarky old self in an instant. _

_In the end, the only reward he had given her was a crumpled piece of paper with the kanji characters of the word "reward" written on it along with a small message saying, "redeem for anything". For some reason, Tanaka didn't at all feel bothered about his lack of sincerity and kept the piece of paper as means of blackmail to use against him someday. _

_And Tanaka could not wait for that day to come, as she smirked and placed it inside her backpack for safe-keeping. However, much to her chagrin, he had found the note before she could pit it against his trickiness and had permanently gotten rid of it when she had not been looking. _

_Still today, Tanaka was peeved of this but realized that it's better not to make any more attempts to trick the renowned trickster.  
_

* * *

"Tanaka?" The sound of her mother's voice interrupted Tanaka's flurry of memories. Immediately, she sat up and found her mother standing beside her, a hand on the nostalgic teenager's shoulder. Tanaka looked up to see her work-driven mother's worried face. "I'm leaving for work soon, do you want a ride?" She asked patiently, her forefinger dangling the car keys.

Tanaka stood up, gently placing her spoon inside her unfinished cereal. "That's alright, I'll walk." She gave her mother a small smile before scurrying to wash her bowl along with her spoon. Her mother leaned against an armchair and gave her daughter a glance. "You have softball practice today, right?"

Surprised that her mother remembered, Tanaka turned and answered, "Yeah. But I won't be coming home that late." She continued to thoroughly cleaning her used utilities and swiftly dried them before placing them gently into their respective cabinets.

"Oh, good. Because your father and I have a surprise for you and Satoru." Her mother gave Tanaka a mischievous grin, to which the daughter reacted with a taken-aback look. Surprises for the kids usually resulted in something disastrous. Tanaka wouldn't be shocked if the "surprise" turned out to be matching kiddy bikes.

Her mother frowned at Tanaka's reaction. "Trust me, you and Satoru will be enthusiastic about this one." She kissed Tanaka on the cheek motherly before heading out towards the front door and added, as she waved a hand in the air, "Don't forget your mitt!"

"A surprise, huh?" Tanaka mumbled under her breath as she dried her hands. "Drive safely!" She called out to her leaving mother who aired a waving hand again. Tanaka smiled as she quickly ran into her room to get her forgotten mitt and by the time she had swung her back over her shoulder, her mother's car was already gone. She exited the house after making sure that all the doors were locked (something that she had forgotten to do once and had paid the heavy consequence for).

She began walking to school in a much faster pace than usual, and had to dodge through slow walking groups who seemed to purposely block the sidewalks so that others would be late as well (thus sharing the same punishment). Fortunately for Tanaka, her reputation as Ice Princess had some perks. She just had to glare down a few students here and there, and she had a walkway set for her already.

But the good times could only last for so long. Tanaka had arrived at the school gate much earlier than she had thought she would and let out a quick sigh of relief before heading towards the front doors. Much to her annoyance, she was barricaded by a group of chattering girls, one of whom she recognized as one of Konomi's former friends, Tsukiko.

"Could you please get out of my way?" Tanaka said though clenched teeth. Heads turned towards her, and some gave her some dirty looks to which she responded to with a sassy raised eyebrow. Tsukiko turned towards and stepped out from the group. "So the Ice Princess actually has manners?" A unified chuckling ignited from the group behind Tsukiko.

Tanaka crossed her arms and smirked. It worked on Konomi, but if they thought she was fragile too, they thought wrong. "Oh, I do. Self-respect too. Both of which you seem to lack." She brushed past the glaring girl and the mumbling crowd and pushed past the doors.

"You think we don't know about your facade? I bet inside, you're just as "shallow" as all of us!" Tsukiko shrieked, pointing a daunting finger at Tanaka. She had used her fingers to airquote the word, shallow. Others seemed to realize that a fight was initiating, but most ignored them and casually walked by.

Tanaka's smirk grew wider. She resisted the urge to laugh. "You're fighting a losing battle here, sweetie." She tightened her grip around the strap of her backpack and was about to head up the stairs when Tsukiko began to scream about something else. Something that made Tanaka's hand slack away from her backpack.

"You don't think I know about you and Niou-kun! Yeah, that's right! I know about you and him!" Tsukiko yelled, and blocked Tanaka's way from the stairs. She smirked then added, "I saw you throwing notes over to him! I know you like him too! And you say you dislike fangirls, you hypocrite!"

This time, Tanaka did laugh. Inside, she sighed in relief as she realized that they didn't know about her history with Niou nor about what had happened at the rooftop the other day. She laughed at Tsukiko's confused face and at the other confused faces behind her back. "If you want legitimate answers about that, why don't you ask Niou himself?" She chuckled her way up the stairs as Tsukiko remained speechless behind her.

She was midway through the second floor, _passing by Niou eavesdropping near the nurse's office_, when she heard swift footsteps behind her. Kiseki's concerned face came into view and began shooting an excessive amount of questions, not one of them Tanaka could understand. "Kiseki, what?"

"Why are you messing with the regulars' fangirls?" Kiseki cried out, shaking her best friend by the shoulders and was answered by a frustrating casual shrug. Tanaka gave Kiseki a smile. "Don't worry, Kiseki. They won't harm me." She assured the worried third year.

Kiseki let go of Tanaka's shoulders and leaned against a random classroom's wall. "Naka, they can be very vicious. Remember what happened to** me**?" She gave Tanaka an anxious look, gripping her backpack's straps. She stared at Tanaka, trying to get through to her the incident that had taken place just weeks ago.

"Trust me, Kiseki. It's not gonna get as bad as _that_." Tanaka emphasized, making sure that others weren't paying any attention to them. She crossed her arms, and tried to look as rational and as composed as she could. Kiseki sighed at her best friend's unpersuaded face. "I just don't want anything _that bad_ happen to any of you." She hung her head back before continuing into their own classroom.

Tanaka patted her comfortingly on the back. "I have my ways around people. Those fangirls won't be able to lay a finger on me, I promise." They entered their classroom together. It wasn't crowded as Tanaka noticed that both of the class' resident regulars were missing. Ranawa and Konomi were chatting on one side of the room as Tanaka and Kiseki both clattered their bags on their desks.

"We saw what happened down there." Ranawa gestured towards the clear glass window just a foot away from her hand's reach. Konomi looked at Tanaka with the same concerned look that Kiseki had given her minutes ago. "Tsukiko, she didn't do anything that bad...did she?" Tanaka sighed as she leaned against her own desk and saw that Kiseki was emanating the same curious stare as Ranawa and Konomi.

Tanaka rolled her eyes. "Well, she did accuse me of being Niou's fangirl - which kind of bruised my pride a little. But other than that, she didn't say anything else that was remotely hurtful." She gave the three a playful grin but was answered by humorless serious faces. Tanaka gave them a scowl. "What? You wanted an answer, I gave you one."

"Now's not the time to be joking, Tanaka." Ranawa crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the said girl, who rolled her eyes in response. Tanaka crossed her own arms before responding, "I'm not kidding, Nawa. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." She tried to persuade her fellow 3rd year again, only to be met by clenched teeth and a frustrated reaction.

Ranawa stood up and faced Tanaka. "Remember what happened to Kiseki? We can't have that happening again!" She slammed her hands down on a nearby desk, the noise capturing the attention of random classmates that had just happened to be wandering the room at the wrong time. Konomi jumped at the noise while Kiseki stared down at her desk, trying to stay out of sight.

"I know, Nawa!" Tanaka slipped her hands through her long brown hair and let out a loud sigh as she sat down in her own desk. "I know. And I'll be careful next time." She added, this time a less agitated tone. Both of them had just realized the curious stares that were emanating from other people and quieted down as murmurs and whispers traveled through the hall.

Kiseki finally looked up. "Fantastic. Now we're gonna be the latest topic of school gossip." She pointedly said, running a hand through her own hair. Letting out a loud sigh, she faced the windowsill, shaking her head in annoyance. Konomi, on the other hand, looked at Tanaka and Ranawa. "...I'm guessing this is the wrong time to ask." She softly said.

The timid girl was answered by synchronized nods from each frustrated girl surrounding her.

* * *

Tanaka didn't like P.E. It was the only one of the subjects were she was _required_ to participate, which has never actually been a forte of hers. Much more to her dismay, was the fact that they were playing co-ed. The mere thought of having to act like buddies and good teammates with Niou was something she would lose her pride in doing. Ranawa stood beside her, stiff and composed as Tanaka ignored the awkward silence between them.

"Yoshida-san." A captain for one team called out her name and silently, she walked over to him. Tanaka stood in the back, trying to ignore the searing glare emanating from Tsukiko's narrowed eyes. Tsukiko had been chosen as one of the team captains, and Tanaka had a feeling that she knew who the angry fangirl would pick.

Predictably, a happy, "I pick Niou-kun!" Instinctively, Tanaka rolled her eyes as the silver-haired regular slowly walked over to Tsukiko who immediately hugged his poor victimized arm. Another team captain called out Marui Bunta, who cheerfully walked over with arms behind his head.

Konomi and Tanaka ended up on the same team while Ranawa and Kiseki were stuck with Tsukiko as their team captain. Following the teacher's loud orders, the opposing teams walked over their fields. It didn't surprise Tanaka that they would be facing Tsukiko's team. Neither did it surprise her that her team captain wasn't all sporty and had no idea how to kick a soccer ball.

"This is gonna be a long day..." Tanaka complained, tightening her ponytail as Konomi stood beside her and chuckled. Their team captain was now enduring spur-of-the-moment kicking practices from the students who _did _know how to play soccer. On the other side of the field, Tanaka saw Tsukiko bellowing orders to her flinching teammates. Ranawa and Kiseki were sharing glances as Tanaka mouthed a playful, "Good luck!"

"Shut up." They mouthed back in unison as the whistle blew. Tanaka, who the vice-captain chose as a forward jogged over to the front and faced an uninterested Niou. She raised an eyebrow at him and the silver-haired regular responded with a smirk.

"Think you can take me down, Yoshida?" Niou mocked her, his messy hair messier than usual. She placed a hand on her hip and smirked. "Any day, Niou." The second whistle blew as the ball began to be kicked in all sorts of random directions. All Tanaka could do was keep an eye on it, and make sure it wasn't heading the wrong direction as the ball never really came to her. Niou had moved to the back of the field, playing defense instead of his original position.

Kiseki, who was supposed to be defending jogged forward and bit her lip. "If Shoko was here..." She mused, shaking her head at their yelling classmates who had been stuck in the same part of the field for the past fifteen minutes, kicking the soccer ball to other people's ankles and not caring if they were punting it to their own teammates or their opponents.

"Scary thought." Tanaka replied, and they both chuckled as the ball went out of bounds and a person from Tanaka's team began to throw it over to her direction. "Watch out, Kiseki. I'm a forward." She grinned at her best friend. Kiseki reflected the smirk and replied, "Well, I'm supposed to be defending."

Tanaka kicked the ball lightly through Kiseki's open legs and swiftly moved forward only to find that Niou was guarding her this time. She sighed in frustration as she tried futile attempts to move the ball forward, just to find him returning each kick much stronger than her first.

She ignored the widening smirk on his face as she angrily kicked it towards the wet part of the field, trying to make him slide on the grass and fall over. Niou swiftly followed the ball but slid at a wrong angle and the sound of skin breaking made Tanaka freeze. By the time he stood up, there was an enormous cut on the side of his right leg and several small wounds on his left leg.

"Niou! Are you alright?" She rushed over immediately, as blood began gushing out of his cut in a red consecutive flow. Niou blinked as he stared at his leg and winced as the teacher's whistle blew. A crowd began to emerge around the trickster of the courts as the teacher pushed his way through the muttering students. He knelt down and examined Niou's bleeding cuts.

Standing up, the teacher sighed and said, "Get to the nurse immediately, Niou. Yoshida, accompany him." He gestured for the two to get up from the grass as he blew the whistle one more time. With a loud yell, he barked orders for the games to continue as Tanaka and Masaharu made their way out of the soccer field and into the school buildings.

"I expected you to fall, but not as badly as that." She ran a hand through her hair as he limped his way through the hallways next to her. Niou let out a soft "puri" as Tanaka blinked at his nonsensical sound. They were already halfway towards the nurse's office when he decided to respond to her. "Sadistic, aren't you?"

Tanaka narrowed her eyes. "Not as much as you." A smirk appeared on his face as they neared the health room. "Still, I am sorry about that whole mess." She gestured towards his heavily-bleeding leg and his very noticeable limp.

Niou stared down at her and scratched the back of his head. "This must be the first time you've ever apologized to me for anything." He stated in a dream-like mocking voice. Rolling her eyes, she shoved him playfully as they entered the nurse's office. The nurse was used to terrible injuries and heavy blood loss, so when she started panicking about Niou's leg - Tanaka couldn't help but panic a little inside as well.

"It can't be that bad." Niou told the nurse casually as he sat down on the bed, his leg still suffering from his fall. The nurse turned to look at him and inhaled then exhaled. "It's not your leg I'm frantic about!" She cried out as Tanaka spaced herself away from the distressed nurse.

She went to a corner of the room and asked skeptically, "What are you agitated about then?" The nurse turned her attention to the 3rd year girl who was casually leaning against the office's wall. "My sister - out of all days, is having her baby! And then apparently my husband got into some sort of crazy car accident! And then my weak old mother just has to crash on her way down the stairs to feed the cats!" She shook Tanaka by the shoulders, to which the teenage girl responded with wide eyes and an awkward smile.

"Haru..." Tanaka nervously called out to the tennis regular casually sitting on the bed, watching in amusement as the school nurse physically assaults his best friend. He stood up, the blood flow becoming faster than it already was. "Miss, if you need somewhere to be - go. It's just a cut. I can fix myself up." Masaharu took the nurse by the shoulders and led her towards the door.

She stared at him in incredulous joy. "Is that so? You can really do that? Oh thank you. Thank you so much!" The nurse gave the tall silver-haired regular an enormous hug. Niou patted the frantic nurse awkwardly on the back as Tanaka resisted the urge to physically laugh out loud. "Just go." He ordered, as she swiftly took off her white nurse coat and swung her gigantic tote bag around her shoulders.

Suddenly, Tanaka narrowed her eyes at the tone of his voice. Something was going on here. As the nurse hastily fled the school building, she stepped towards the smirking Niou with crossed her arms. "You knew about that, didn't you?" She coldly asked in an accusatory tone. He turned to her direction and his brow furrowed to imitate innocence.

"About what?" Masaharu asked, crossing his own arms and staring into her icy blue eyes. Tanaka scowled and pointedly told him, "Your voice is lowered, Haru." He raised an eyebrow at this and sat back on the bed, rubbing his hands through his bleeding leg. Or - as Tanaka had just found out, what _seemed_ to be a wounded leg.

She glared at him. "So why did you fake hurting your leg?" Tanaka questioned in a forceful tone. Much to her frustration, he didn't even flinch but instead, stared at her right in the eyes. A concerned look began to spread itself upon his handsome usually-playful face. "What happened between you and my fangirls?" He asked her bluntly, pointedly ignoring her question.

"That's none of your business." Tanaka replied, looking away. She could hear him sigh as he stood up and stared at her until she faced him again. "Ikeda's right, you know? What happened to Shimizu was bad. If the same thing happened to you - " Niou had began saying, pocketing his hands casually as he stared down at her.

Tanaka interrupted him. "How do you what happened to Kiseki?" She narrowed her eyes, clenching teeth tightly.

"Yagyuu's my doubles partner. Of course I know what happened to Shimizu." Niou explained, scratching the back of his head.

Tanaka sighed. "Why did you fake hurting your leg?" She asked again, and this time she made sure he was going to answer her.

"I wanted to talk to you. Personally." He replied.

Tanaka bit her lip. "You couldn't wait until break or lunchtime?"

"My fangirls might not be bright, but when it comes to stalking me - they're geniuses." Niou answered.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you're the whole reason why they're targeting me?"

"I kinda figured." He shrugged.

Tanaka chuckled. "They think...You would not believe this - they think we're romantically involved..or something."

"Well, aren't we?" He was answered by a hard smack on the back of the head.

Tanaka's face straightened and she cried out, "Of course not! We're not even involved in any kind of way!"

"You'd think being alone in the nurse's room all by ourselves would count as a little bit of involvement..." He thoughtfully responded, a smirk playing on his lips.

Tanaka shook her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. "I don't get you, Masaharu. Never had and probably never will. You're such an enigma, you know that?" He smiled at this analogy. Sitting back down on the bed, Niou sighed as he wiped the fake blood off of his legs from a nearby tissue box. "You've never told me that." He replied.

"I don't know...You were my first real friend. I guess I didn't want to offend you away." She chuckled as she took a seat next to him and let out a loud sigh. Niou looked down at her and leaned against the wall, stretching his long muscular legs. "You said you weren't sure if a friend is all I could ever be." Tanaka rolled her eyes, remembering that conversation that kept her awake last night.

"But I think you are sure. If you weren't, then why else would you be jealous of me hanging out with all those cheerleaders before junior high?" Niou asked, testing past memories. Tanaka froze and started laughing as hard as she could. "I wasn't jealous! I was being protective of you!" She protested, unable to stop chuckling.

Niou raised an eyebrow. "You can't trick the trickster, Naka. Your parents told me that ever since I "replaced" you with the cheerleaders, you were always so moody and irritated. Would that be protective?"

"Okay - I never said you replaced me with them. And yes! That would be protective. You do know that they were playing you just as much as you were playing them, right?" Tanaka retorted, crossing her arms at him.

Niou chuckled. "Wouldn't it just be easier for you to say you were starting to like me, rather than make up all these nonsensical arguments?"

"I was not starting to like you!" Tanaka glared at him.

Niou's face fell grim. "See? Your pride is always the problem! Instead of just walking up to tell me to stop hanging out with the cheerleaders and to hang out with you instead, you have to act all happy and pleased about it!"

"Do you not know me at all, Masaharu? I'm not a straightforward person. What were you even trying to prove, hanging out with all those cheerleaders, huh? What, Haru?" She stood up, wanting to cradle her head in her arms.

Niou stood up as well and pointedly said, "To prove that I actually meant something important to you."

He looked at her straight in the eyes, a hurt tone in his voice. Tanaka gulped and turned away, running a hand through her hair. She shook her head nonsensically, and ran out of the nurse's room and through the hallways - a headache overcoming her tired body. She ran towards the soccer fields, only to find it empty and she ran back towards the changing rooms ignoring the stares from her classmates.

Kiseki and Ranawa looked down at her breathless figure as she began changing out of her P.E. clothes and into her uniform. Still, his words echoed through her mind. They echoed and they echoed. Even during lunch, she couldn't pay attention. She spent the whole school day, dazed and distracted. Her friends could only look at each other with concern as she tried to slap herself back to reality.

Unfortunately, even that did not help her situation. Tanaka tried to ignore the silver-haired regular as much as she could, but every single second she spent not thinking about his voice and his words, she spent glancing at him. By the time the school bell rang - she was still distracted.

"Tanaka - is it Niou again?" Naomi asked her, her voice filled with worry at the quiet 3rd year girl who so desperately wanted to be shaken out of the spell Niou had put her into. Tanaka could only nod in response.

Shoko appeared next to them and sighed. "That boy really has you wrapped around his finger." **That** statement definitely snapped Tanaka back into reality. She looked at the taller 3rd year and coldly said, "Take that back." From Tanaka's peripheral vision, she could see Naomi grin and from a few steps behind them, Ranawa and Kiseki chuckle. Shiho's shoulders began to shake as Konomi and Aeha giggled.

"Props to you, Shoko. We've been trying to get Ice Princess back the whole day." Kiseki playfully shoved Tanaka, who rolled her eyes in response along with an angry scowl. Ranawa smirked, as she began to walk beside Naomi. "Ahh. Well, if he's gonna trick his way into Tanaka's heart, let him." She said so in a sing-songy way as chuckles erupted from the group.

"He has no way into my heart." Tanaka retorted, ignoring the loud chuckles emanating from the group which only gradually grew louder.

* * *

The sun's heat began to beat itself down onto Tanaka's sweaty back as she was still lost in thought about her entire school day. Suddenly, she found a softball thrown her way and she barely caught it in a swift movement with her mitt.

"Keep playing like that - and you'll be kicked off for sure." A slender redhead jogged up to her, a smirk playing on her face. Her emerald green eyes were flecked with mischievousness. Tanaka sighed as she bit her lip in disappointment. "It's been a tough day. I can't help but be a bit distracted." She explained, wincing inside at how lame-sounding her explanation was.

The redhead grinned. "Happens to everyone, don't worry. Just make sure you don't slack off in front of the co-captains. They're really strict." Tanaka's brow furrowed at this as she swept her hair back into a messy ponytail. "You've played with them last year too?" Tanaka asked curiously.

"This is my second year being in the same rec team with them. Name's Chiaki Suzuki, by the way." Chiaki jerked a thumb to herself as Tanaka nodded.

The Rikkaidai student grinned and replied. "Tanaka Yoshida, nice to meet you. So you go to Hyotei?" Tanaka noticed the large printed badge on the back of Chiaki's purple shirt. The redhead nodded in reply. Curious, Tanaka questioned, "If you attend Hyotei Academy, why are you in a rec team?" They began tossing the softball to each other - moving back a few steps after each successful catch.

"Wanted some variety. I get tired of the rich kid scene." Chiaki shrugged, chucking the ball towards Tanaka who was just a few yards away. She caught it effortlessly as she grinned at Chiaki's reasoning. "What school do you go to?" The redhead asked Tanaka curiously.

Tanaka flung the ball back over to Chiaki. "Rikkaidai." She replied simply.

"Serious? You wouldn't know a Naomi Hayashi, would you?" Chiaki's eyes widened in excitement, a grin spreading itself onto her face. Tanaka looked a bit taken aback and her eyebrows furrowed before a smile replaced her surprise. "Oh yeah. Know her, clean her room for her, baby-sit her siblings for her." Tanaka smiled.

A chuckle sounded from Chiaki as she caught the ball with ease. The two of them took two steps back. "She hasn't changed a bit! And Aeha - is she still a good drawer?"

"She's probably gotten better!" Tanaka called out, grinning as well as Chiaki tossed the ball back to her.

Chiaki beamed. "No way! Oh, man! You have to make Naomi join this rec team. I haven't seen her in ages."

"She's joining the softball club at Rikkai." Tanaka informed Chiaki, before catching the ball again and taking two steps back. She chucked the ball back to Chiaki.

The redhead caught it again and moved backwards along with Tanaka. "Are you in the softball club too? It'd be great to play you guys in an official tournament."

"School clubs aren't really my thing. But I won't forget to tell Naomi about this rec team." Tanaka replied, catching Chiaki's tossed ball. She flung it back over after taking two steps backwards. They were interrupted by a loud yell from the diamond. Jogging over, Tanaka caught sight of the two captains. They were both incredibly competitive and had both intimidated Tanaka during try-outs. Both were brunettes, although the taller one (Sekina) had a lighter hair color and had more of an positive personality rather than competitive.

Shiho was the shorter (although not that considerably shorter) one with a more strong-willed persona and a more quirky attitude. Sekina ordered the group to separate and form two tiny teams. Instantly, Tanaka took a position outfield as Chiaki jogged after her and positioned herself next to the Rikkai student. A petite blond girl's batting form was being examined carefully by Sekina as Shiho jogged outfield and introduced herself personally to Tanaka.

"Hey, I'm Shiho Nakayama. Yoroshiku." She inclined her head politely as Chiaki snickered a few yards away. Shiho and Tanaka turned towards the noise and Chiaki grinned playfully. "Don't let Shiho fool you - she's actually a pretty harsh shebeast inside." Shiho instinctively glared at the redhead, who stuck a tongue out childishly. Tanaka laughed at this exchange as Sekina began examining another girl's batting form. It took a few more minutes for Shiho and Sekina to examine each person's batting form and even more to polish.

They played a scrimage game against another local rec team afterwards and by the time Tanaka was heading home, she had befriended girls from all over Kantou. There was Chiaki and Shiho, who seemed to have known Aeha and Naomi in elementary school. There was Siana and Sekina, the only two girls from their rec team who were attending Seishun Gakuen as well as Kotone from St. Rudolph who was the only other new player excepting Tanaka. Then there was the cocky Ayuko who also attended the rich Hyotei Gakuen but can't act prim or proper to save her life. And the last one Tanaka could remember was Koharu from Yamabuki who had seemed quiet at first but had the driest sense of humor.

As Tanaka waved goodbye to Chiaki who had repeatedly reminded her to invite Naomi to one of the practices next time - she felt as if she was finally at ease and no longer distracted by Niou. Despite not being distracted, she immediately found herself bumping into another person who exclaimed in surprise, "Naka-nee-chan!" Tanaka took her eyes off of the ground as she saw Aeha standing next to a curious Kirihara Akaya.

"Aeha? Why are you with Kirihara?" was the first thing that popped into Tanaka's head and the first question that came out of her mouth.

The 8th grade boy's flushed with redness as Aeha smiled. "I'm tutoring him in English." Tanaka had just noticed the large English dictionary that Kirihara was carrying around. "Ne, Kirihara-kun, there's no need to be embarrassed." Aeha patted her fellow 8th grader on the back, a cheerful smile upon her face as she said so in a reassuring tone.

"Hayashi, sometimes you're just so blunt." Akaya grinned in a childish manner as he scratched the back of his head with one arm while the other held on tightly around the large book. "It's a good attribute to be honest." Aeha responded cheekily, to which she answered to with a playful shove from the seaweed-haired boy next to her. Tanaka grinned as she gripped her bag that was holding her school uniform. "Well, I have to head home. Make sure you don't walk home too late at night."

Aeha smiled back. "Actually, Kirihara-kun's walking me home right now. He says it's too late for me to be walking home all by myself." Her smile turned into a playful scowl, as she crossed her arms childishly. "Which, by the way, is completely wrong." She added to Kirihara who was rolling his eyes at his fellow 8th grader.

"Yagyuu-sempai says to never let girls walk home by themselves." Kiriharu argued, narrowing his eyes at Aeha who was about to retort when Tanaka murmured under her breath, "Wow. A regular who knows how treat girls right - this is a first..."

Aeha chuckled as Tanaka realized just how loudly she had said that and excused herself politely. Kirihara grinned her apology away as he and Aeha began walking around a corner. "See you tomorrow, Naka-nee-chan!" Aeha cheerfully waved back at Tanaka who responded with a hand raised in the air. The 3rd year grinned as she watched the two 2nd years chat animatedly before disappearing completely around the corner.

She was only a few yards away from her house when she was met by a barefoot Satoru jumping up and down like a rabid bunny. He rushed his way over to her, a permanent grin stuck to his face. "Nee-chan! Come on, come on! You won't believe this!" He dragged by the hand as she reluctantly let him guide her into the house. It didn't need to be said that Tanaka was as confused as a panda in a meat factory.

She had just entered through the front door when she saw that trademark silver hair and that cunning sly smirk. Sitting on her living room couch as not only Niou Masaharu, but his younger brother who needless to be said, was Satoru's best friend. Tanaka could only stand frozen, horrified in disbelief. Her parents gave her an entourage of wide grins.

"I told you that you'd like this surprise!" Her mother screeched in her ear.

Her father imitated his wife's smile. "Masaharu and his little brother will be staying here for the next couple of weeks!"

Tanaka's jaw dropped and her bag clattered to the floor. "Kill me now, dear God." were the only thoughts that ran in her mind.

* * *

Tanaka's haircut: : / / i 4 2 . . c o m .j p g

Tanaka's current haircut: : / / . / / / % 2 0 - % / . j p g

Just fill in the spaces for the pictures. FF won't let me put the whole url so if you guys wanna see the pictures, you'll have to put a little effort into it. Haha. Anyways, try to remember the softball girls. You'll be seeing them in new fanfictions for other schools soon. :) So far, the school that people want me to write about next time would be Shitenhouji Chuu. As that school is placed in Osaka, I can't really introduce any of the OC's for that school in any of my Rikkaidai fanfics.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's a lot longer than the other ones. I intended for it to be longer than this at the beginning, but I didn't wanna overwhelm any of the readers too much. I do have a more legitimate plot line for all my fanfics, so stay tune for other updates that will be coming up soon. The newest update after this one will probably be for And You Are? as I'm already halfway through the third chapter.

Also, if you guys haven't checked out my profile yet, there's this awesome Q&A fanfic written by one of my most favorite reviewers. It's called Princes' Email by xXRandomnessPrevailsXx. You can ask your favorite princes of tennis your own curiosities and questions. :) Please check out this awesome fanfic.

Well that's all for now. Thanks guys!

_Radiance Within_


	9. Chapter 9: New Soap

**Summary: **Tanaka Yoshida had always been famed in her class for being uncaring and cold. She showed no real emotions, and is revered as a fantastic (although quite confusing) advice-giver by the people she chose to counsel. There were no tragic incidents in her past, nor any traumatic events that had ever happened to her. So is her emotionless face just a facade and a trick?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters.

This fanfiction is for the following users: **14thEternityNightMare, Angel-chan1992, AnimeLover423, applegreentea, aries9394, asianFrustration, boncuk5174, BridgeOfInsanity, celtic27fionn, CherriAme, Cherry Blossom Tea,**** Ciel Blanche, Coco96, , Cookie Krisp, CrushedCoppelia, daintyACORN, demon twin, demoncat13, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, FreeHugs0009, gimmefood, gonda96, GothicDiva112, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, Hidden in Sunlight, iamspastic, Ice-creamy-life, IcyBreeze7, ILoveOreoAndCheese, IsaBis, iSayumix3, It'sMeHereReally, Jaklyn-The-Pixie, KL93, kyotolover, Mavarta, Midnight Hikari, MinayNguyen, , miki725, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, Osanai Yume, personaprincesspeach, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raine Amorial, Rin136, Shitenhouji Chuu, Sleepy Maple, SUPAfast JeLLyFisH, **** strawbewii, vivvy09, xHicchan, xKisaragi-Raiix**, **xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxssorrowxx, **and** xxxxihatepinkxxxx** who have favorited this particular fanfiction.

This chapter is for the following users:**14thEternityNightMare, Angel-chan1992, applegreentea, asianFrustration, aznprincessali, boncuk5174, BridgeofInsanity, cayleyjanssen, celtic27fionn, , CherriAme, Cherry Blossom Tea, ChocoholicAddict22, ChocolateFudgeSauce, Ciel Blanche, Coco96, CrushedCoppelia, demon twin, demoncat13, Deplorability, EcstaticPetenshii, EdgeOfInsanity, Erigay, gonda96, GothicDiva112, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, Hidden in Sunlight, iamspastic, IsaBis, Ice-creamy-life, Jaklyn-The-Pixie, Killer Socks, KL93, kyotolover, Lumiere01, Mavarta, Midnight Hikari, Miss CatLover Chii, Mochiiko, NothingNEverything, Ocean Wave Kira, personaprincesspeach, Pig the Cat, Princess Alice Rose, PurePrincess, QueenOfHearts27, Raf Kowalski, Raine Amorial, rebirthreborn, Reinuta, Rin136, roonaty, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Shadowsnow, Shitenhouji Chuu, Solar Powered Pandas, soni-chan, tazdevil, totoronii, wiznoy,xHicchan .Xx, xXRandomnessPrevailsXx, xxxVampy-chanxxx, xxxxihatepinkxxxx, **and **xYuzuruRengex **who have alerted this particular fanfiction.

* * *

Before Tanaka knew it, she found herself instinctively pulling her surprised mother into the kitchen and whispered in a hushed tone. "This is a joke, right? Ka-san, this is a joke right?" She asked fiercely. Her mother rolled the trademark blue eyes that Tanaka had inherited and replied, "Tanaka, you know that Masaharu's father is a close family friend of your dad's. Besides - Masaharu is your best friend."

Tanaka gave her mother a pointed blank stare. "Was, ka-san. He **was** my best friend. Meaning in the past, meaning not anymore. Need I say more?" She cried out quietly in exasperation. She turned away, rubbing her forehead and tried to calm down. Niou Masaharu and his little brother is at her house. They will be staying at her house. If God couldn't kill her now, his fangirls will do the deed later.

"Tanaka, think about it. Just sixteen days. Can't you endure that for us? We've already promised their parents." Her mother laid a hand down on her daughter's shoulder, her eyes pleading. Tanaka never thought she would see the day when her mother would have to resort to using puppy dog eyes on her own daughter. Tanaka bit her lip, and headed back towards the living room.

Apparently, Masaharu had already made her house home since he had completely settled into the couch, stretching his long legs towards Tanaka's direction. The girl resisted the urge to scoff and kick his traitorous ass out of **her **couch. The only good thing Tanaka could get out of the situation was that her little brother would be out of her hair for a while since Niou's little brother and hers were practically family.

"Have a nice stay." She flatly told the smirking silver-haired boy through clenched teeth. From her peripheral vision, she could see both of parents sigh in relief. Tanaka bit her tongue and refrained from saying any other remarks before heading upstairs into her room. In the comfort of privacy, Tanaka began panicking. It seemed to her that the more she tried to avoid Niou, the more she found him lurking near her. Like an undying bacteria clinging to her. Tanaka shuddered.

She inhaled in and breathed out. "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger." She calmly told herself. Niou staying here will not kill her. But his fangirls might. Dear Lord, his fangirls! Tanaka ran a hand through her long undone hair before settling her face into the comfort of her two hands. His fangirls already hated her because they thought she had one inkling of a connection; what would they do once they find out she'd be sharing the same house as him?

They were angry at her because they thought she liked him, for goodness' sake! They're a bunch of crazy hypocrites. But they couldn't be that crazy, could they? Of course not. Tanaka finally began to regain her composure. "You're Rikkai's Ice Princess. You can't be fazed. Just handle this situation maturely." She nodded to herself, letting out a deep breath.

"Y'know, talking to oneself is the first step towards insanity." Niou magically appeared into the room. Oh wait, she had left the door unlocked. He just happened to have opened it without her hearing.

Tanaka gave him the coldest glare she could emanate. "Listen, Niou. I have a few guidelines laid down. This is my house after all, and you are just the guest. First of all, ever heard of knocking? Yes? You do that. Second of all, you don't come into my room unless I say so. Doesn't matter if it's locked, unlocked, whatever. I know when somebody's touched my doorknob." At the last sentence, Niou began snickering but Tanaka ignored it and continued on.

"Lastly, no one finds out about this, understood? We leave this house separately at different times and we come back separately at different times. If you see any of your mad-minded fangirls stalking you, you shoo them. Do you understand?" Tanaka gave him a poke at the chest as he stopped chuckling and gave her a blank stare.

"Sorry, could you repeat that? You lost me at 'listen'." Niou told her, earning him a smack at the back of the head. "But alright, alright. I'll follow your rules."

Tanaka scoffed. "From the first word, I could already tell you were lying. But if I find out you've been nosing around my stuff, I'll - " She was interrupted as Niou rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak.

"You'll what? Tell on me?" Niou chuckled. "Honestly, Tanaka. I have no intention of touching anything of yours. I just came up here to tell you that your mother says she wants you down in thirty minutes." He shoved his hands in his pockets as he slowly backed out of the room and into the corridor. Tanaka glared at his retreating back and grabbed the nearest object she could find. Without hesitation, she flung it at the back of his head and it hit its target with a satisfactory smack. Tanaka felt a grin widen across her face. She closed the door loudly and locked it, grinning in victory. Until she realized the object she had thrown at Niou was her phone.

Tanaka jolted and pulled her door open. Niou was already at the stairs and hearing her stomped footsteps, he looked up from her lighted-up phone and smirked. "Kazuya Kamenashi, shirtless. Dear Lord, Tanaka. Who knew you'd be that kind of a girl?" He grinned mischievously as Tanaka hurriedly ran down the stairs and attempted to grab her phone from his grasp.

"Give that back to me." She glowered.

Niou grinned down at her relatively smaller frame and drawled. "You threw it at me."

"That doesn't mean I wanted you to keep it!" Tanaka angrily reached out for it again but he hung it out of reach over the railing. The room that the stairs led up to was the living room, and Tanaka thanked God her parents and their little brothers were currently in the kitchen chattering their lives away.

Niou's grin widened. "You've been losing touch, Yoshida. You're supposed to be smarter than this."

"..Now." Tanaka scowled at him, grabbing him by his school necktie and pulling him down to her level.

Niou's grin was replaced by his trademark smirk. "That only turns me on, Tanaka."

Without hesitation, she loosened her grip on the tie altogether and scowled. "There's nothing in there worthy of blackmail." Tanaka crossed her arms, her eyes nothing but narrowed slits. The phone was still out of her reach. Damn those growing boys and their abnormally long arms. She knew inwardly that she was lying. In her phone were texts. Texts which contained conversations that Niou MUST NOT SEE.

"There are texts in there about me, isn't there?" Niou smirked, gesturing towards Tanaka's phone. He had read her mind completely. So he hasn't lost his touch after all these years. The inner best friend in Tanaka applauded despite herself.

Tanaka smirked back. "You are just so arrogant, aren't you?" She tried to change the subject from the look painted on Niou's face - she knew she wasn't winning.

"Then, you wouldn't mind if I took a look?" Niou asked her, turning towards the phone. Smart trickster that he was, Niou didn't let the phone anywhere near her reach as he touched the text icon. The moment was an excruciating long process for Tanaka, but she barely moved an inch. She was praying that acting as if it didn't bother her might convince him to stop. Well, it seemed the Fates always disappeared whenever she was near Niou. Maybe he had some supernatural power she was never aware of.

"Your best friend is Shimizu, isn't she? So I suppose I should read your conversations with her first." Niou gestured towards Tanaka, his eyes the epitome of innocence but Tanaka knew that deep inside those orbs of his, the Devil dwelled.

"Yeah, go on ahead." Tanaka resisted her voice's urge to crack as his thumb hung above Kiseki's name by an inch. She looked away and crossed her arms, ice cool and unfazed. Niou raised an eyebrow as the shouts of savior called from down the kitchen.

"Tanaka, Masaharu! Time for dinner!"

Tanaka never imagined those five words would be her lifeline. Niou took one last look at the phone before tossing it back to Tanaka without care.

"Don't want to risk getting in trouble on the first day, do I?" He headed down with his hands in his pockets, but not before rumpling up his already messed-up hair.

Tanaka waited until he was out of earshot or sight as she cradled the phone into her safe and awaiting hands. She sighed in relief as she bit her lip and touched Kiseki's name on her phone. The last couple of texts were about a study group thing that they were planning but the majority of the messages were mainly about Niou. Tanaka thumbed up a couple of text messages from the lasts ones.

Kiseki: Tanaka, it's obvious you're in denial.

Tanaka: Please, Kiseki.

Kiseki: Admit it, Tanaka. I'm your best friend. I can read you like an open book.

Tanaka: Niou's a stranger.

Kiseki: Naka.

Tanaka: Well, now he is.

Kiseki: But you used to like him?

Tanaka: Maybe.

Kiseki: You still do.

Tanaka: I don't know.

Kiseki: Keep telling yourself that. I'm not gonna poke into this anymore.

Tanaka: ...

Tanaka: Fine. It's been so many years but nothing's changed. I still am stupidly ridiculously in love with Niou Masaharu.

Tanaka inhaled and breathed out once more, as she stumbled down the stairs. Without a second thought she erased all her messages, knowing that she couldn't risk another situation like that again. She pocketed her phone as she took a seat next to her mother who was staring at her expectantly. Tanaka gave her a raised eyebrow as she finally understood.

"Sorry for making all of you wait." Tanaka did not meet Niou's gaze as all of them said "Itadakimasu" and began eating. Tanaka could still feel her heart beating erratically from the inevitable nervousness from before. The whole entire time she felt Niou's uncomfortable gaze on her, but never once did she meet his eyes.

* * *

In the family guestroom downstairs, Niou tried to situate himself as best as possible but he just couldn't sleep. Something tugged onto him trying to keep him awake, and Niou knew exactly what it was. He looked up, which was exactly where Tanaka's bedroom was. He smirked as he crossed his arms over his head. Rubbing his eyes, Niou decided that trying to make himself sleep wasn't helping him and headed for the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was still flooded with light.

Sitting on one of the chairs was Tanaka, one hand cupping a half-finished glass of milk and the other tangled in her long brown hair.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Niou remarked, leaning forward against a chair. Tanaka jumped up in surprise as she muttered, "I was about to head upstairs." She blinked and continued to not meet his gaze.

Niou sat himself down across from her as he studied Rikkai's local not-so-icy-princess. "Without finishing your milk?" He gestured towards the cup that her hand gripped tightly. Tanaka stared down at the cup as if realizing that it was there the whole time. She chuckled and shook her head.

"Why is it that whenever I try to be as composed as I can around you, I can never be?" Tanaka pondered loudly, asking rhetorically.

Niou stretched back and said. "Maybe that's just how things are supposed to be."

"Masaharu, can I ask you something?" Tanaka said, staring at her glass of milk.

Niou raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

"Do you think we can still be best friends?" Tanaka questioned, fiddling with her cup. Her icy blue eyes no longer contained the cold stare it used to always give him. In fact, they seemed confused. Dare he say, lost?

Niou smirked. "I thought I told you already that I don't want us to be like that anymore."

"I'm not falling for you, Niou." Tanaka said with as much resolution as she could muster.

Niou leaned forward. "I wonder, Tanaka. Is that what you really want? Or are you just scared?"

"I'm not scared of anything." Tanaka replied, a quiver in her voice noticeable.

Niou sighed. "Quit fronting it, Tanaka. You're as fragile as any other person can be, maybe even more easy to break. Years of being distant from you doesn't mean I've forgotten the years when we were best friends. You're frightened of something. You're used to being in control of everything. But this time around - you have no control. And you feel helpless because you don't know what to do. Am I right?"

"You're wrong." Tanaka stood up, one of her fists clenched as she tossed the remaining milk from her cup into the sink and placed it into the dishwasher. She turned to face Niou, who was giving her a studious gaze. "I'm not helpless and neither am I frightened. You're wrong."

"Tanaka." He stood up as well but she had begun heading for the stairs already. Niou caught her arm just in time as she swung up the stairs. He realized that she had left the lights on while she was heading down. "Tanaka. Look me in the eyes, and tell me what's wrong."

"There is nothing wrong. I'm perfectly fine." Tanaka emphasized the last word, running a hand through her hair one more time as she helplessly tried to let go of his death grip on her arm.

Niou narrowed his eyes at her. "You're scared about something. And you're scared of admitting that you're scared."

"You're not my therapist, damn it Niou. Let go of me." Tanaka told him, angrily swinging her arm around in no avail.

Niou's gaze softened. Then without warning, he crashed his lips into hers. He swung an arm around her waist as he let go of the arm he had been holding onto before. Tanaka's eyes widened but she soon found her right mind and began pushing him away. Niou only retained his fierce grip around her as he cupped a hand under her chin and angled her face better towards his. He kissed her slowly, nibbling on her lower lip at times but all that was running through his mind was that he couldn't let go of her. Not now. Not when he knew how she really felt.

"Haru..." Tanaka murmured in between his kisses. Niou rested his forehead on hers as he replied, "Shhh." He left one more peck on her lips as Tanaka suddenly found the will to push him away. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "This...This has to stop. I can't. It's too much. I just..." She ran upstairs as he licked his own lips staring at her retreating back.

The text message he had read from before sounded through his head. _"It's been so many years but nothing's changed. I still am stupidly ridiculously in love with Niou Masaharu." _

"Damn it, Tanaka. If you can admit it to Kiseki, why can't you admit it to me?" He whispered, running a hand through his mess of a hair.

* * *

The day after, Tanaka had only one thing in her mind: Avoid Masaharu Niou at all times. She was wary, anxious, and jumpy at each step she took. So of course, when she felt a light tap on her shoulder - the Ice Princess nearly screamed. Tanaka turned, only to face the amused stare of her very own best friend. "Kiseki!" She cried out, making sure that they were the only ones near earshot.

"Why so jumpy?" Kiseki asked her, pointing at her best friend with her badminton racket.

Tanaka smoothed down her hair and said pointedly, "I'm not jumpy at all." She brushed Kiseki's racket aside with her own.

"It's got something to do with Niou." Kiseki observed, gesturing towards the trickster who was currently tripping Marui Bunta as they played soccer on the opposite field. They both turned to look at him as he looked up to meet their stares. Instantly, Tanaka averted her gaze.

Kiseki's puzzled features soon merged onto a mischievous grin. "You know what I found interesting this morning?" Tanaka gave her a raised eyebrow as she looked for the forgotten shuttlecock that they had been throwing around before. "What?" Tanaka responded cooly.

"Niou usually arrives at a much later time than you. Funny how he came before just ten minutes before you. Like it was some sort of a agenda or plan." Kiseki leaned forward, both her eyebrows raised and her mouth into a smirk.

Tanaka shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's just a coincidence."

"And funny how today you seem to be avoiding him more than usual." Kiseki observed, tapping her lips lightly with her forefinger.

Tanaka chuckled. "I always avoid him, Kiseki. What are you getting at?"

"What's going on?" Kiseki simply asked her, as Tanaka finally found the shuttlecock and started tossing it over to Kiseki with her racket.

Tanaka's mouth pursed into a thin line. "I'll tell you later." She responded.

"What's stopping you from telling me now?" Kiseki interrogated her best friend, as she bounced the shuttlecock back to Tanaka.

Tanaka gestured to their obnoxiously chatty classmates just a few yards away. "Them. I can't risk them hearing about this."

"Must be pretty important then." Kiseki remarked, mocking a shocked facade in which Tanaka had the sudden urge to hit her best friend with the shuttlecock right in the face. She must be starting to have a fetish with chucking objects at people. The blue-eyed teen sighed and replied, "You have no idea."

* * *

"He what?" was Kiseki's simple answer, her blank face clearly demonstrating how shocked she was.

Tanaka's eyebrow twitched. All that suspense, and this was her best friend's reaction? She could've at least pretended to be surprised, shocked, scandalized - SOMETHING. "I can see just how surprise you are about this."

"This isn't the first surprising thing Niou's done. I'm actually surprised you're being so affected about this." Kiseki replied, swinging her backpack over her shoulder as both of them strode towards their usual eating place. Tanaka's best friend shrugged at Tanaka's exasperated expression as she pulled her long auburn hair up into a messy bun.

"Gee. Thanks." Tanaka coldly responded.

Kiseki grinned. "So he's living with you now?"

"Only for a couple of weeks. Thank goodness." Tanaka sighed, stretching her arms out as best as she could without dropping her bento.

Kiseki's grin slowly formed into a grimace as they approached a couple of third years who Tanaka recognized as avid fangirls of Yagyuu Hiroshi. Kiseki inclined her head into a small bow, but they merely shrugged it off and gave Tanaka a rehearsed rolling of eyes. As soon as they disappeared from their view, Kiseki sighed.

"Be careful." She told Tanaka pointedly.

Tanaka brushed the remark off. "They won't do anything to me."

"You'll be surprised just how much they're capable off. Fangirls are scary possessive. Once they've realized you've locked lips with Niou Masaharu not just once, but twice - they'll be out to get your blood before I can say run." Kiseki bit her lip before sighing.

Tanaka barely blinked. "They're scary in numbers because they're so massive. But once you start singling them out, they whiter away as easy as this." She snapped her fingers in demonstration, grinning.

"I'm being serious, Tanaka. Doesn't matter how mentally strong you are; they know how to hurt a person in more ways than one." Kiseki sighed, her forehead creasing in worry.

Tanaka smirked and faced her best friend. "They can barely look me in the eye. How the hell am I supposed to get scared of that?"

* * *

By the time Tanaka came home after a long tiring softball practice, all she wanted to do as plop in the bath and take a nap. There was no denying that she looked like a mess; her usually tamed long brown hair seemed to choose that day to frizz all of a sudden, there were bags under her eyes since she missed her usual naptime, and her training outfit was nothing but dirty and battered.

Of course, she wouldn't have minded in the least if there were no house guests around. But when Niou's little brother had the nerve to come up and ask her why she looked like a worm, Tanaka couldn't be anything but ticked off. Tanaka was fuming by the time she grabbed some clean comfortable clothes and started rapping on the bathroom door which her little brother just had to use when she needed it most.

"Jeez. Hurry up!" Tanaka frustratingly yelled out. There was no response, so she decided to knock on the door even louder. An infuriated cry from a voice that clearly did not belong to her little brother responded as Tanaka was met with the sight of a shirtless Niou wearing her favorite towel as the door opened.

Tanaka gritted her teeth as she tried to keep her eyes off of his chest. "What the hell are you doing in my bathroom?" She cried out.

"Playing tennis, Tanaka." Niou shook his wet hair out off his eyes as he sarcastically replied.

Tanaka fumed then pointed down without looking at her finger's direction. "And why the hell are you wearing my favorite towel?"

"Your mom said I could use." Niou shrugged and replied nonchalantly as he stepped out of the door.

Tanaka gave him an exasperated look. "I was gonna use that."

"You have more towels." Niou responded.

Tanaka glared. "Don't you have any?"

"I forgot mine when I went in to take a shower and, you know - going commando isn't really my thing." Niou told the frustrated teenage girl, giving her a pointed look.

Tanaka shook her head in exasperation as she stomped her way towards her room, grabbed a towel off of her closet and stomped her way back into the bathroom where an amused Niou stood near chuckling at each movement she made.

Just as Tanaka closed the door, Niou grinned and yelled out, "I like your soap, by the way."

"Augh!" Tanaka cried out annoyance as Niou chuckled his way downstairs and into the guest room.

* * *

Tanaka poked her fried beef with her fork as she ate in silence. Niou was right across from her, his usual smirk pasted on his face.

"Mom, when are you going to the grocery store?" Tanaka suddenly asked, staring right at Niou whose eyebrow quirked at her question.

Tanaka's mother's eyebrows raised as well as she turned towards her daughter. "Why?"

"I need new soap." Tanaka said through gritted teeth, as Niou bit back his lowered lip and resisted the urge to chuckle straight at his former best friend's ice-cold blue eyes.

Tanaka's parents shared a look as her mother replied with a hesitant, "Alright then. I'll make sure you get your new soap as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Tanaka responded, her eyes never leaving Niou's amused once. Even though his face was as blank as possible, she knew inside he was dying to torment her even more. He quirked an eyebrow at her as she gave him a mocking smile.

Suddenly, Tanaka's father spoke up. "By the way, Masaharu's tennis match is this weekend and the whole family is coming to support him." He turned his gaze towards Tanaka and gave a wide smile which wiped the mocking smile off of his daughter's face. "The whole family." He repeated more pointedly.

Tanaka's eyes widened. Why is it that whenever she wanted to drift farther, fate just keeps trying to tie them together? Her gaze returned towards Niou who now was occupied with sloppily eating his rice and beef. She turned towards her parents who were each giving her pointed stares.

Kiseki's words echoed again through her mind. "Be careful."

"I'm in shit. Deep shit." Tanaka bit her lip in distress.

* * *

Well, guys. It's been a long time. Haha. It's kind of sad how it's been so many months since I've last updated this story. No worries though - I'll have them popping during Spring Break. Hopefully. Thank you so much for all the readers out there who constantly make my day with their alerts and favorites. It really is a blessing.

Anyways, I have no idea when the next update for this story will be. I've just managed through Finals the last week and I suppose this is my gift to you guys for a new trimester of English(: Anyways, please review if you'd like. Otherwise - keep reading. I'll do my best to keep you guys interested. I sincerely apologize to those who have to re-read the story all over again because they've forgotten how the plot goes. That's the author's fault so I apologize for that.

I love you guys!

Love,

Radiance Within


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